Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said today he believed the IRA when it said it was not involved in the £22 million Northern bank robbery. Earlier the IRA said attempts to link it to criminality would fail.
Even though Chief Constable Hugh Orde is expected tomorrow to confirm the Provisionals were linked to the raid, Mr Adams insisted: "The IRA has said it was not involved. I believe that to be the case."
Gerry Adams
Mr Order is due to brief senior members of Northern Ireland's Policing Board in Belfast tomorrow about the December 20th raid - the biggest ever in Ireland or the UK.
No arrests have been made and none of the missing cash recovered but police believe republicans were involved. The police chief is under pressure to track down the gang and confirmation that the IRA was connected to the heist will have huge implications for the future of peace process, significantly undermining any chance of restoring the power sharing executive at Stormont.
But Mr Adams moved today to claim accusations of IRA involvement were an attempt by British "securocrats" to undermine talks to restore devolution at Stormont.
He also hit out at the Democratic Unionist Party, accusing its members of trying to link his party to the robbery.
The Sinn Fein leader said: "It is obvious that the series of raids, house searches and confiscation of property directed at republican activists that have taken place in recent weeks have had nothing to do with tracking down those responsible for the bank robbery.
"Instead this has been a contrivance aimed at pointing the finger of guilt at republicans, even in the absence of any evidence."
Mr Adams added: "No one should doubt the significant damage done to all of this by these raids, by the conduct of the PSNI and by the political opportunism of some."
Earlier, IRA rejected claims that it is involved in criminal activity but, in its New Year statement, did not explicitly deny its involvement in the Belfast bank raid.
The IRA said attempts to criminalise it would fail. The statement published in An Phoblachtsaid: "We reject recent attempts to criminalise our Volunteers.
"Through two decades, central to Britain's policy in Ireland was the strategy of demonising and criminalising republicans. In prisons and on the streets, similar attempts and tactics were smashed, most notably by our comrades on hunger strike in 1981.
"Current attempts by those hostile to republicanism will also fail.
"We commend our Volunteers and our support base. Their patience and discipline have been among our greatest strengths. We share a vision for the future."
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said this afternoon that all groups linked to parties in the Northern Ireland peace process must not only renounce paramilitarism but also cease criminal actions of all kinds.
Speaking at his monthly press conference in London, Mr Blair stressed that he was not prejudging the result of police inquiries into the recent robbery. But he added: "We have to wait for the authorities to make their judgment on this.
"But be under no misunderstanding at all, there can be absolutely no place not merely for terrorist activity, but for criminal activity of any sort by people associated with a political party."
The IRA statement also described as "unachievable" unionist demands that future acts of weapons decommissioning be photographed.
The organisation said it was "prepared to make to a comprehensive agreement to resolve all outstanding issues" and said it was willing to conclude the process to "completely and verifiably put all our arms beyond use."
The group said such a move was, however, prevented by what it called "an unachievable demand for humiliation," adding that what it saw as a rejection of the IRA's " substantial contributions" had created "a deep anger within the republican and nationalist communities."