NORTHERN IRELAND: FOUR HUNDRED BRITISH SOLDIERS WITHDRAW

Описание: (22 Mar 1995) English/Nat:

Four-hundred British soldiers left Northern Ireland on Wednesday in the first major troop withdrawal since the IRA ceasefire began seven months ago.

More could leave soon if the truce holds.

But nearly twenty-thousand British troops still remain in the province.

The 400-strong 5th Regiment Royal Artillery departed from Drummond Barracks, in Armagh city today (Wednesday).

The highly symbolic withdrawal is expected to be followed shortly by the pull out of a second battalion - if the ceasefire holds.

The I-R-A's political wing Sinn Fein see the move as a long overdue gesture. They also describe it as a mere "drop in a bucket" since 18,000 British troops still remain in Northern Ireland.

The pull out worries some of Northern Ireland's majority Protestant community.

But British government security chiefs are keeping the regiment on standby if violence flares up again.

The number of troops in the province peaked at just under 30,000 in 1972, the bloodiest year in more than twenty years of what's known in Northern Ireland as the "troubles".

The long-awaited announcement that the I-R-A is to start handing over its weapons could now be a step closer.

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