Calls for total demilitarisation
British troops may have left the streets in the Greater Belfast
area as a much trumpeted first step in demilitarising the Six
Counties but they are still busy in South Armagh and Fermanagh.
South Armagh Farmers and Residents Committee spokesperson Toni
Carragher has called an immediate halt to the refurbishment and
expansion of the military lookout posts and installations in the
Forkhill area that started two weeks ago as part of the British
Army's supposedly `greening' (environmental) commitments.
After reassurances from US Congressmen Peter King and Richie Neal
that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had told them that he
could soon start to greatly reduce the level of British troops,
particularly in the South Armagh area, Carragher said that Blair
now had ``no excuse''. She said, ``we would welcome the total
removal of all five joint British Army/RUC barracks together with
the removal of the 33 lookout posts that dot our beautiful green
countryside.''
Meanwhile over the past week British Army patrols have been
stepped up in the Roslea area of Co Fermanagh. Reports also
confirm that British soldiers have been seen wearing full battle
dress.
``The presence of these troops in full battle gear is in total
contradiction to the needs for a demilitarising of the Six
Counties,'' said Sinn Fein's Brian McCaffrey.
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