IRA SUSPECTED OF SLAYING

NEWRY, Northern Ireland (AP) Police and politicians in Northern
Ireland blamed the Irish Republican Army for abducting and slaying a
notorious drug dealer Sunday.

The victim's half-naked body, wrapped in a blood-stained sheet, was
discovered dumped by a roadside in the IRA's rural stronghold of South
Armagh several hours after masked men abducted him at gunpoint from
the bar of Newry's only hotel. His wife, who was with him, wasn't hurt.

Police said they would not try to remove the body until after daybreak
Monday, because of fears that the IRA might have boobytrapped it. They
confirmed the victim was one of Northern Ireland's most infamous drug
dealers, but asked for him not to be named pending notification of his
relatives.

The IRA has officially maintained a cease-fire since July 1997.
However the outlawed group's South Armagh unit has been blamed for
killing two other people this year: Another Newry-based drug dealer in
May, and a former IRA member-turned-critic in January. The IRA has
declined to confirm or deny responsibility for either killing.

The IRA and its allied Sinn Fein party frequently mobilize support
against suspected drug dealers within their working-class Catholic
power bases. Police accuse the IRA of intimidating rivals in defense
of its own drug-trafficking rackets, an allegation the IRA denies.