Ulster band ceases fire

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33610, 12 August 1974, Page 13

Ulster band ceases fire

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) BELFAST, August 11. The outlawed Protestant guerrilla group, the Red Hand Commando, has declared a cease-fire at a ceremony in Belfast attended by men in black hoods and journalists. The cease-fire means that all three main para-military Protestant organisations have laid down their arms in Northern Ireland. After the Protestant workers’ strike in May, the other two groups, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Freedom Fighters, declared a truce.

At the cease-fire signing ceremony, a hooded spokesman for the Red Hand Commando said the decision had been taken “in the light of the improved situation in the province.” It is thought that this was a reference to information gleaned from a recent meeting between Protestant leaders and the Minister for Northern Ireland (Mr Merlyn Rees) which was attended ananymously by a Red Hand member.

Tapestry theft Thieves have stolen five fifteenth and sixteenth century tapestries worth about $288,000 from the cathedral in the northern French town of Beauvais.— Beauvais, France, August 11.