ANTRIM, United Kingdom: Northern Ireland police questioned Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, a chief negotiator in the Irish peace process, over the notorious IRA murder of a woman suspected of being an informant in 1972.
The 65-year-old republican leader was arrested on Wednesday night over the killing of mother-of-ten Jean McConville after voluntarily attending a police station in Antrim, Northern Ireland, for an interview.
Adams strongly rejected any involvement in the murder — one of the most infamous incidents in Northern Ireland's violent history — saying in a statement that the allegations were "malicious".
"While I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs McConville," he said.
Sinn Fein was once the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary group, which waged a bloody campaign over three decades for British-controlled Northern Ireland to become part of Ireland.
The party now shares power with the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the devolved government in Belfast. It is also represented in the Irish parliament in Dublin.
Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said Adams's arrest was "politically motivated", as it came three weeks ahead of local and European Parliament elections.
McConville, a 37-year-old widow with ten children, was snatched from her home in west Belfast, becoming one of more than a dozen so-called "disappeared" of the conflict.
The IRA accused her of being an informer for the British army, although a police watchdog later found no evidence to support the claim.
The IRA admitted her murder in 1999 and four years later her remains were found on a beach in County Louth. She had been shot in the back of the head.
McConville's son Michael, who was 11 years old when he saw his mother dragged away, said he was pleased that the police were "doing their job".
However, he admitted in a BBC interview that he still refused to name the people he saw taking his mother, saying he still feared reprisals.
"If I told the police a thing either me or one of my family members or one of my children would get shot by these people," he said.
"Everybody thinks this has all gone away — it hasn't gone away."
Nobody has ever been found guilty of McConville's murder, but former IRA leader Ivor Bell, 77, was last month charged with aiding and abetting those involved.
Five others in addition to Adams have also been questioned.
Detectives are using evidence given to researchers at Boston College in the United States, who interviewed a number of former paramilitaries.
The interviewees were told the transcripts would not be published until after their deaths, but a US court last year ordered that the tapes should be handed over to police.
Former IRA commander Brendan Hughes and convicted IRA bomber Delours Price, now dead, both alleged Adams was involved in McConville's death.
But Adams, a former member of the British parliament who was elected an Irish MP in 2011, has strongly rejected the claims.
"I believe that the killing of Jean McConville and the secret burial of her body was wrong and a grievous injustice to her and her family," he said.
"Well publicised, malicious allegations have been made against me. I reject these."
Adams, who has led Sinn Fein since 1983, says he was never an official IRA member, but he played a key role in ending its armed struggle.
He became involved in the 1960s Catholic civil rights movement seeking to end discrimination by the Protestant majority, and was detained several times in the 1970s.
For many in Britain he remains a controversial figure, but he won respect for his key role in the 1998 Good Friday peace accords, and for helping persuade the IRA to renounce violence in 2005.
Adams stayed out of the power-sharing government established under the peace deal, and in recent years has taken on the role of elder statesman.
But the spotlight swung back on his family last year when his brother, Liam Adams, was jailed for raping his own daughter in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Gerry Adams held over notorious IRA murder
Gerry Adams held over notorious IRA murder
What Bangladesh’s election means for India, China and Pakistan ties
- Bangladeshis will vote on Feb. 12, almost two years after the 2024 student-led uprising
- After nearly 2 years of tensions, experts expect a thaw with India under elected government
DHAKA: As Bangladesh prepares to hold its first elections since the 2024 ouster of Sheikh Hasina, its longest-serving prime minister, the outcome will define Dhaka’s relations with the most important regional powers — China, India, and Pakistan.
Nearly 128 million Bangladeshis will head to the polls on Feb. 12 to bring in new leadership after an 18-month rule of the current caretaker administration.
The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, took control following a student-led uprising that ended 15 years in power of Hasina and her Awami League party.
The two main parties out of the 51 competing for power are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. The Awami League, which for decades has had close ties with India, was excluded from the election ballot over its role in the deadly crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests, in which 1,400 people were killed.
While Bangladesh’s relationship India has deteriorated since the fall of Hasina, who has been in self-exile in New Delhi, the period of diplomatic strain is expected to ease when the new government takes office.
“Whoever comes to power in Bangladesh, due to domestic pressure in the country, relationships with India need a resetting,” Humayun Kabir, former ambassador to the US, told Arab News.
“It’s anticipated that India will also engage with the new government, but they will protect their interests, and we also have to do the same. It’s most likely that the India-Bangladesh relationship will be normalized under the new, elected, government.”
Since 2024, India has suspended key transshipment access that allowed Bangladeshi exports to go via Indian ports and airports. It also put on hold most normal visa services for Bangladeshis, who were among its largest groups of medical tourists.
From Hasina’s heavy pro-India orientation, the interim government has tried to rebalance Bangladesh’s foreign policy toward the two other key regional players — China and Pakistan — who at the same time are India’s main rivals.
If New Delhi regains its importance, it should not deal a blow to the newly expanded relations with Pakistan, with whom Bangladesh has recently increased exchanges, especially economic, and last month resumed direct flights — after a 14-year gap.
Since the relations have been expanded under the caretaker government, Prof. Delwar Hossain from the International Relations Department at Dhaka University forecast that they would only further improve, no matter who comes to power, and there is no likelihood of a sudden change.
“For Pakistan, any political coalition — whether BNP or Jamaat — will be positive. The BNP has a long history of having good relations with Pakistan during their rule ... Jamaat also has a strong and very positive influence in Pakistan,” he said.
“For Pakistan, the new regime or new government is not the issue. The issue is what the (India) policy of the new government would be and to what extent it would actually support Pakistan’s view.”
Both the BNP and Jamaat have repeatedly said they wanted friendly relations with India, and Hossain expected that they would, at the same time, continue the balanced approach introduced by the caretaker administration.
“India is a reality as a neighbor. At the same time, India is also showing interest in mending relations or adopting a more cooperative approach after the vote, with the government that will be elected ... I think there will be pragmatism from both sides,” he said.
“I don’t see there is a long-term threat to Bangladesh-India relations ... When China and Pakistan were trying to create a trilateral cooperative system or some kind of coalition — China, Bangladesh and Pakistan — we have seen that Bangladesh opted out. It seems that Bangladesh is going to continue its policy of maintaining a balance among these great powers.”
Bangladesh’s relations with China have not changed since the ouster of Hasina, whose government signed several economic agreements with Beijing. Yunus’s administration has continued this cooperation, and China was among the very few countries he officially visited during his term.
During the visit, he secured about $2.1 billion in Chinese investments, loans and grants, including funding for infrastructure like Mongla Port and a special economic zone in Chattogram — Bangladesh’s largest port. China has also eased visa rules for Bangladeshi businesspeople, medical travelers and tourists.
According to Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Bangladesh’s former ambassador to Beijing, China’s importance for Bangladesh cannot be substituted by any other country, especially as over the past few years it has emerged not only as its key investor, but also the largest trade partner.
In the fiscal year 2024-25, Bangladesh’s trade with China was over $21.3 billion, according to National Board of Revenue data. With India, it was about $11.5 billion.
The trade — especially import — dependence on Beijing started long before the regime change. In terms of trade volume, China overtook India already in 2018.
“Even when people thought that we had very close relations with India, our relations with China continued to grow in terms of trade and commerce ... Our trade with China has surpassed India’s, and China is a much bigger investor in Bangladesh’s development projects,” Ahmed said.
“Bangladesh will continue to cooperate with China for a long time to come because what China can provide, no other country can.”
