Blair welcomes commission report on N. Ireland

British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed on Wednesday the report on Northern Ireland's paramilitary, saying the "campaign is over".

The Independent Monitoring Commission said in its 12th report, the most positive one on IRA activities so far, that Irish Republican Army (IRA) had changed radically and some of its most important structures were dismantled.

It said the IRA does not want to return to violence and no longer has the capacity to mount a sustained campaign, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.

Blair believed that politicians in Northern Ireland now have a "unique opportunity" to reach a "final settlement."

There is "now a consensus across all main players in the politics of Northern Ireland, that change can only come through persuasion and not through violence of any sort," said Blair.

"The IRA has done what we asked it to do, and while issues like policing remain to be solved, the door is now open to a final settlement, which is why the talks next week in Scotland are going to be so important," he added.

The government now hopes the report will help restore devolution in the province before the November 24 deadline.

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said: "We believe this report does lay the basis for a final settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland and an end to the political stalemate.

"As such we think it presents a unique opportunity for this generation of politicians to reach that final solution, an opportunity the government hopes the parties will now seize and not miss a fantastic window," he noted.

Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also said in a statement that "these positive and clear-cut findings are of the utmost importance and significance."

Referring to talks due to take place in Scotland next week which aimed at restoring devolution, he said: "It is time to make decisions and for Northern Ireland to look to the future."

The Independent Monitoring Commission was set up by the British and Irish governments in January 2004 to monitor paramilitary activities as well as the normalization of security measures in Northern Ireland.

Four members of the commission come from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Britain and the United States.

Source: Xinhua