Pro-British Militia Awaits Move by IRA

This province’s largest pro-British paramilitary group told an international disarmament commission that it won’t discard its weapons unless the Irish Republican Army starts doing so first. Canadian Gen. John de Chastelain’s mission to disarm rival bands of illegal militias is one of the most disputed aspects of the Belfast peace agreement. The April 10 accord, strongly endorsed in referendums last week, commits the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party and political representatives of the main pro-British gangs, the Ulster Defense Assn. and Ulster Volunteer Force, to “use any influence they may have” to ensure their sides’ total disarmament by mid-2000.