A man was arrested today in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney after presenting himself at a Belfast police station with a solicitor, police said.

Mr McCartney, a 33-year-old father of two, was beaten and stabbed outside a bar in Belfast city centre on January 30 and died later in hospital. His family have campaigned for the killers to be brought justice and have accused the IRA of shielding those responsible.

Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of murder. Ten people have already been detained and released over the killing. Detectives said they exercised their right to silence.

Today's arrest followed an extraordinary statement from the IRA yesterday in which it said it had made an offer to Mr McCartney's family to shoot those responsible. The family rejected the offer during a five-and-a-half-hour meeting.

The Provisionals also claimed that four people were directly involved in the killing of Mr McCartney and that only two of those were IRA members. They knew the identity of all these men and urged witnesses who could assist the family's quest for justice in any way to come forward.

Its statement added: "That remains our position. The only interest the IRA has in this case is to see truth and justice achieved."

The statement received widespread political condemnation. Paul Murphy, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said there was no place in the province for "kangaroo courts or murder". Michael McDowell, the Irish Justice Minister, showed how deep the crisis was in the republican

movement.

And in the House of Commons today, Tony Blair described the Provisionals' statement as "extraordinary".

He told Labour MP Kevin McNamara during Prime Minister's Questions: "The IRA statement yesterday frankly defies any description. It was quite an extraordinary thing to say. It cannot be in any shape or form justified.

"There is no way we can make any progress in Northern Ireland that includes Sinn Fein unless we have a complete and total end to violence of whatever kind."

Hugh Orde, the Northern Ireland chief constable, said today that the IRA had meant to kill when it offered to shoot the men it blames for Mr McCartney's murder. "I have no doubt that's what they meant," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "It's what they do - one only has to look at the history of the IRA. They have killed thousands of people."

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