THE IRA and the KLA are both classed as terrorist organisations. The former is still fully armed, 18 months after it was made clear that Sinn Fein could not take its place at an Ulster administration unless rifles, machine guns and explosives were surrendered.

The deadline for reaching agreement on forming an executive is only nine days away, but so far the IRA has not given up so much as a single bullet.

On the other hand, the KLA yesterday signed an agreement to hand in arms and uniforms before the dust of retreating Serb tanks and lorries had settled.

In the light of recent history it would be understandable if it was the KLA showing a marked reluctance to disarm.

Its country has been subjected to the most barbaric treatment since the regimes of Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot.

The IRA, for all its posturing and propaganda, can never claim that the British Army raped and pillaged its way across Ulster during its 30 years' involvement in the province.

But still it refuses to budge.

Its intransigence has placed the whole Northern Ireland peace process on a knife-edge, leaving the British and Irish governments and the Ulster Unionists wondering how they can possibly make further progress.

If the impasse is not removed we could see a rapid return to the dreadful days of bombings and shootings with scores more innocent lives lost to sheer bigotry. This time it would be even worse because, with the abandonment of the peace process, all hope for the future would disappear.

And the IRA would be able to regroup with frightening strength following the release of dozens of hard-line terrorists.

The British and Irish governments face a tremendous dilemma.

As far as disarmament is concerned they are no further ahead than they were in the first heady days of negotiating a peace process.

The sheer bloody mindedness of the IRA and its political wing, Sinn Fein, over the question of disarming leaves us wondering whether they were ever really serious about it or whether, as the more cynical observers say, they saw it as a golden opportunity to re-group.

IRA leaders must know that Sinn Fein can never be part of any Ulster administration while they sit on top of a pile of weapons and ammunition.

Bigotry in Ulster is not exclusive to the IRA.

The Protestant terror groups have poured fuel on the flames of hatred for many years, even though there was a symbolic surrender of arms from one organisation in the early days of the peace process.

The British and Irish governments now face an unenviable task.

Bringing the two sides together will require diplomacy and tact on a scale rarely seen.

But it will be impossible unless the IRA's leaders take a step back from their stubborn stance.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.