Adams calls for IRA to abandon armed struggle

BELFAST - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on Wednesday urged the IRA to take the "historic" decision to abandon the armed struggle and engage in a political process for peace in Northern Ireland.
"Can you take (a) courageous initiative which will achieve your aims by purely political and democratic activity?" Adams asked in a speech in Belfast.
Adams said it was now time for IRA militants to proceed "not as volunteers risking life and limb but as activists in a national movement toward independence and unity."

04/06/2005 14:16 GMT