Report on ceasefires will find breaches by all sides

The Independent Monitoring Commission's first report into paramilitary activity will produce findings of widescale activity by…

The Independent Monitoring Commission's first report into paramilitary activity will produce findings of widescale activity by groups on all sides.

The report, due to be published tomorrow by the British and Irish governments, also cites the IRA in connection with the alleged abduction of republican dissident Mr Bobby Tohill in February. This endorses claims by the Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, who was quick to point the finger at the IRA at the time of the incident in Belfast.

The IRA denies sanctioning any action against Mr Tohill.

The commission is not understood to have called for expulsions from the political process, a tactic already denounced by the Taoiseach. Instead, it is understood to have recommended financial penalties for some parties elected to the suspended Assembly.

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The Progressive Unionists, linked to the UVF, and Sinn Féin could see their pay, expenses or other allowances curtailed as a result of the commission's findings.

The report, said by reliable sources to be "hard-hitting" and "not pulling any punches" touches on a wide definition of paramilitary activity, including criminality, and not just on strict ceasefire breaches.

It is understood to mention the Provisional IRA, the INLA, and various loyalist groupings including the UVF, UDA and Loyalist Volunteer Force.

The four-member commission was formed last autumn and "went live" in early January. Its function is to monitor alleged paramilitary activity and advise the two governments accordingly.

It comprises the former Assembly speaker, Lord Alderdice; the former senior Department of Justice civil servant, Mr Joe Brosnan; Mr Richard Kerr, ex-deputy director of the CIA; and Cmdr John Grieve of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist squad.

The decision to establish such a body was supposed to settle contentious allegations of ceasefire breaches and facilitate efforts to restart the political institutions suspended since October 2002.

The first report, scheduled for June, was brought forward after the Tohill incident.

This has led to renewed accusations from Sinn Féin, which opposed the establishment of the commission, that the body is not independent and has been devised in an effort to put Sinn Féin under pressure.

The party chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said yesterday that speculation on the report's contents "vindicated entirely" his claim that the IMC was "little more than a tool to be used by the British government to undermine the electoral mandate of Sinn Féin".

He forecast the IMC would "major on alleged republican activity, slow pedal on the activities of unionist paramilitaries and ignore entirely the British government breaches of the (Belfast) Agreement up until now.

"It will be interesting to see what the IMC have to say about the British government policy of state-sanctioned murder recently exposed by Judge Cory, or the series of murders carried out by unionist paramilitaries over the past year, many of which are reportedly linked to British agents working within the unionist paramilitaries."

Mr McLaughlin further alleged that the report's publication was influenced by proximity talks to be hosted by the two governments in London scheduled for later this month.

"The timing of the IMC report in the lead up to the latest round of negotiations is clearly political and clearly designed to influence those discussions," he added.

A meeting in Downing Street today between Mr Tony Blair and an SDLP delegation, led by Mr Mark Durkan, has been postponed.

The SDLP had wanted to tackle the prime minister over his reponse to the Cory reports and the judge's call for an independent inquiry into the murder of Mr Pat Finucane.

No reason is known for the postponement, but some in the SDLP believe it may be because Downing Street does not want to deal with the Finucane controversy before the proximity talks.