Friday's European papers give a cautious welcome to the IRA's announcement that it is formally ending its campaign of violence.

In the current climate of unease after recent terror attacks in Europe and beyond, many see the timing as no coincidence.

Europe's 'last colony'

Under the headline "IRA lays down weapons", France's Le Figaro says Thursday's announcement "should put an end to more than three decades of violence".

"While the organisation has observed a ceasefire since 1997, this new initiative officially puts an end to any form of violence and should entail the decommissioning of the entire paramilitary apparatus," the paper says.

Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza hails what it calls "this historic statement" which heralds "renewed efforts to establish self-rule in Ulster" in a bid to end what the paper calls "British rule" in "modern-day Europe's last colony".

According to Germany's Der Tagesspiegel, the IRA statement lives up to high expectations.

The paper acknowledges that the IRA did not say much about its victims, but it argues that the organisation had little choice.

The real test will lie in unconditional support for Northern Ireland's police Der Tagesspiegel

"If it had offered a remorseful apology to its victims, as would be appropriate, it would have called its own legitimacy into question," the paper observes.

This, it continues, could have led radicals to break away from the group, something which "cannot be in anyone's interest at the moment".

The paper believes that what matters now is the IRA's long-term intentions.

"In the end the real test will lie not in rusty weapons, but in Sinn Fein and this new veterans' association called the IRA showing unconditional support for Northern Ireland's police," it says.

'Damaged beyond repair'

Spain's El Pais observes that it took "decades of suffering" for the IRA to reach its decision.

Along the way, the paper says, "several thousand lives have been cut down by terrorism... and generations marked by hatred".

It feels that the IRA's image has become damaged beyond repair by the Belfast Northern Bank robbery and the murder of popular Belfast man Robert McCartney earlier in the year.

It takes two to make peace Liberation

"These recent events... cost it, permanently, the crucial support of a sector of American politics," the paper believes.

It now hopes to see negotiations leading to a lasting political agreement for Northern Ireland, adding that "London will have to contribute to this goal measures announced many times but never implemented".

The paper adds that the IRA's decision frees up Britain's security forces at a crucial time "to fight full strength against Islamist terror, a threat which is much less predictable and much harder to deal with".

'Drift to political crime'

France's Liberation says the ball is now in the court of what the paper describes as "ultra-Loyalist" forces in Northern Ireland.

The paper acknowledges the magnitude of the step taken by the IRA by noting that "it is never a simple formality" to say "the war is over".

It warns however, that "it takes two to make peace".

"While it is true that the IRA and the most militarised sections of the Republican movement have not always shown great skilfulness or openness since the announcement of their ceasefire," the paper says, "their ultra-Loyalist counterparts have seized on every pretext to engage in obstruction."

"Today the ball is in their court," it says, although the IRA will have to fulfil its pledge on weapons and, as far as possible, put an end to what the paper calls "the drift from the 'armed struggle' to political crime".

The IRA failed to achieve its goal through violence; instead it united Ireland in hostility to terror Pravda

Spain's ABC says the IRA's move now leaves the Basque separatist organisation Eta as "the only terrorist group in Europe".

The paper feels the IRA can make a decisive contribution to the success of the peace process by what it calls "the effective dismantling of the terrorist organisation's arsenals".

But it warns that even when they announce that they are stopping the violence, terrorists "remain terrorists".

Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau cautiously welcomes the IRA statement.

The paper says the group deserves praise "until there is evidence to the contrary".

It believes that the timing of the announcement is no accident because the London attacks had put pressure on the IRA as well as British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Sense of urgency

According to the paper, "the London bombs made it clear that the Republican movement had to distance itself from violence emphatically in order to survive".

Slovakia's Pravda agrees.

Under the headline "Terrorists made IRA turn away from violence", the paper argues that the attacks in New York, Madrid and London had a profound impact.

"Any support for the IRA using violence to achieve its goals has disappeared," it says.

The paper feels that the IRA leadership's call on its members to give up their arms is something "unimaginable just a few years ago".

"The IRA failed to achieve its goal through violence; instead it united Ireland in hostility to terror," it says.

Switzerland's Le Temps says the London bombings created a greater sense of urgency for the IRA to act.

"Perhaps the IRA is hoping to regain some sort of respectability," the paper suggests, since "the horror to which Islamist terrorism is giving rise today may lead people to forget its own bloody actions".

According to the paper, the IRA's choice also shows that conflicts are not necessarily irresolvable.

It acknowledges that the Good Friday Agreement on power-sharing was followed by a "very chaotic" process, but it adds that "it is this fragile method whose effect can be seen today".

As the paper puts it, "a spiral of peace is being established in Northern Ireland".