By Sam Tobin
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams walks outside the High Court, in London
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Gerry Adams, one of Northern Ireland's most prominent political figures, told London's High Court on Tuesday he had never been a member of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army, but said he would not distance himself from the group.
The ex-leader of Sinn Fein, formerly the IRA's political wing and now the largest party in the Northern Irish Assembly, became the best-known face of the movement seeking to end British rule in Northern Ireland.
He later reinvented himself as a peacemaker after helping secure the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended three decades of sectarian conflict known as the Troubles, in which some 3,600 people were killed.
But Adams has long faced accusations that he was a member of the Provisional IRA, including from former members of the paramilitary group, which he has always denied.
He is being sued in a civil case by three people injured in three bombings: one at London's Old Bailey court in 1973, the Provisional IRA's first on the British mainland, and two 1996 blasts, targeting London's Docklands and Manchester.
They are seeking a finding on the balance of probabilities that Adams is personally liable for the bombings as a senior member of the Provisional IRA and later its powerful Army Council.
The 77-year-old told the court that he was never involved in the paramilitary group. He added: "I'm glad that there is a peace process but I don't distance myself from the IRA."
ADAMS SAYS HE WAS 'NEVER INVOLVED' IN IRA
The lawsuit is the culmination of decades of allegations that Adams, who became Sinn Fein leader in 1983, was also a senior Provisional IRA leader.
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Adams entered the witness box in his defence on Tuesday, wishing "a very happy St Patrick's Day" to the judge before he was questioned by the claimants' lawyer Max Hill.
Hill asked Adams if he would speak about his involvement in the IRA if there was a truth and reconciliation process focused on the Troubles.
"I can't talk about my involvement in the IRA because I was never involved," Adams said.
He added that he did previously defend some actions by the IRA "based on the broad principle (that) people have the right to resist occupation," citing both the Palestinians and Ukraine.
Hill said Adams had chosen to "stand by the IRA" because he was a member.
"I don't stand by everything they did, but yes - these were my neighbours," Adams said in response.
Adams said: "I'm glad that the IRA have left the stage and I'm glad that nobody else has been killed ... I'm glad that there's a peace process, but I don't distance myself from the IRA."
Adams added that the IRA had done "dastardly things" which should not have been done.
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(Reporting by Sam Tobin, Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)