UK News 21-10-2002 Real IRA: We Will Not Go Away who: Real IRA what: Rejects calls from IRA prisoners to disband where: DUNDALK when: Yesterday snippet: The man leading the Real IRA "has rejected a demand to stand down after a split with the group`s prisoners", reports today`s Times, "who claim that its military campaign has failed after degenerating into smuggling and organised crime." "Watch the news. We will not go away," he said to the paper, prompting media speculation that the group is ready to attack again. Five RIRA prisoners in England and 36 of the organisation`s 39 Portlaoise inmates, including the alleged founder and former leader, Michael McKevitt, endorsed a statement released at the weekend, echoing Tony Blair`s calls for the RIRA to disband. "We believe the current army leadership has forfeited all moral authority to lead the [Real] IRA," the statement read. "Thus we feel we are left with no option but to withdraw our allegiance from this army leadership." The Guardian notes that the statement has provoked a furious reaction from RIRA members on the outside. "People are spitting blood," a source said. "For them, it`s business as usual against the Brits, and I wouldn`t be surprised if they didn`t try something big just to prove they haven`t gone away. They think these guys have sold them down the river to get out of jail early and if they do, they will find themselves on the receiving end from their former colleagues." The Mirror`s source - a British security chief - agrees. "We are now down to the real mad bomber element and they could lash out with catastrophic results," he warned. "We`ll put all our resources on both sides of the Irish Sea into breaking them up." [... more]

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