World News IRA issues apology for civilian deaths

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The Irish Republican Army issued an unprecedented apology July 16 for hundreds of civilian deaths during 30 years of bombings and other attacks.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government quickly welcomed the strength of the IRA statement, saying it comes at a time when the peace process forged in 1998 is under severe strain from continuing sectarian violence.

The apology marks the anniversary of Bloody Friday, when the IRA set off more than 20 bombs within an hour in Belfast on July 21, 1972, killing seven civilians and two soldiers and wounding scores.

Although the IRA has stated its regret in the past for individual acts, it has not previously issued so sweeping an apology, nor was it required to do so by the 1998 peace accord.

The outlawed organization, which is responsible for more than 1,800 deaths, also acknowledged the grief and pain of the families of the combatants killed during the violence.

But David Trimble, leader of Northern Ireland's biggest Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, and head of the Catholic-Protestant government, had reservations about the apology and warned Blair to set a tougher policy on alleged violations of the IRA ceasefire.

IRAが民間犠牲者に初の謝罪

北アイルランドの武装組織IRA（アイルランド共和軍）が16日、過去の武装闘争で犠牲になった民間人に対して初めて謝罪した。

Shukan ST: July 26, 2002

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