MP'S CALL FOR HALT TO EARLY RELEASES
MPs call for halt to early releases
TORY leader William Hague yesterday stepped up pressure on the government to halt the early release of paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland until punishment beatings cease.
Mr Hague said his call to halt releases should not be seen as an end to the bipartisan approach to the Good Friday agreement - but he insisted paramilitary organisations should not reap the rewards of the agreement without honouring all its parts.
His move came as Labour MP Harry Barnes also broke ranks to argue for a slowdown in the release programme because of the attacks from both sides of the sectarian divide.
The Conservative leader said yesterday: "What's wrong is the release of terrorist prisoners when the terrorist organisations concerned are not fulfilling their part of the agreement.
"These are mutilations - there are people with their legs being blown off. This is happening in our country at the moment,"
The government should "at least put on hold the release of terrorist prisoners", Mr Hague told BBC TV's Breakfast with Frost programme.
But he stressed this should not mean unravelling the whole Good Friday accord: "I want the whole agreement to be implemented...it is a good agreement.
"But to release them early when these kind of things are going on, when they haven't yet given up a single gun or bomb, is, I believe, a mistake."
Mr Hague added: "It's a mistake to go on releasing people when these things are happening."
The Tory leader said there was a danger that eventually all the paramilitaries would have been released "but they won't have handed in a single gun" and the beatings would continue.
The Conservative leader said he had asked Tory MP Andrew Hunter not to carry out his threat last week to name in the Commons suspected paramilitaries still active, Including those responsible for the Omagh bombings.
"I think that would be a mistake. It might make it more difficult to convict the people involved, so I have asked him not to do it."
Mr Barnes, MP for North East Derbyshire, said yesterday: "Political sanctions against parties inextricably linked to terror groups for their actions are needed.
"The horrific scale of paramilitary oppression of working-class communities is against the Belfast agreement. Slowing down prisoner releases as a political sanction sends a tough message to paramilitary leaders and does not conflict with the agreement."
TORY leader William Hague yesterday stepped up pressure on the government to halt the early release of paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland until punishment beatings cease.
Mr Hague said his call to halt releases should not be seen as an end to the bipartisan approach to the Good Friday agreement - but he insisted paramilitary organisations should not reap the rewards of the agreement without honouring all its parts.
His move came as Labour MP Harry Barnes also broke ranks to argue for a slowdown in the release programme because of the attacks from both sides of the sectarian divide.
The Conservative leader said yesterday: "What's wrong is the release of terrorist prisoners when the terrorist organisations concerned are not fulfilling their part of the agreement.
"These are mutilations - there are people with their legs being blown off. This is happening in our country at the moment,"
The government should "at least put on hold the release of terrorist prisoners", Mr Hague told BBC TV's Breakfast with Frost programme.
But he stressed this should not mean unravelling the whole Good Friday accord: "I want the whole agreement to be implemented...it is a good agreement.
"But to release them early when these kind of things are going on, when they haven't yet given up a single gun or bomb, is, I believe, a mistake."
Mr Hague added: "It's a mistake to go on releasing people when these things are happening."
The Tory leader said there was a danger that eventually all the paramilitaries would have been released "but they won't have handed in a single gun" and the beatings would continue.
The Conservative leader said he had asked Tory MP Andrew Hunter not to carry out his threat last week to name in the Commons suspected paramilitaries still active, Including those responsible for the Omagh bombings.
"I think that would be a mistake. It might make it more difficult to convict the people involved, so I have asked him not to do it."
Mr Barnes, MP for North East Derbyshire, said yesterday: "Political sanctions against parties inextricably linked to terror groups for their actions are needed.
"The horrific scale of paramilitary oppression of working-class communities is against the Belfast agreement. Slowing down prisoner releases as a political sanction sends a tough message to paramilitary leaders and does not conflict with the agreement."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0267
Published Date: 25-Jan-99
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