The IRA has apologised to "non-combatant" victims of its 30 year terror campaign.

Coming at a time when the Northern Ireland peace process has been under increasing pressure over alleged IRA involvement in rioting in Belfast, racketeering and the training of Colombian terrorists, the move is certain to provoke unionist scepticism about its timing.

However, the IRA said it wanted to apologise to the civilians it had killed.

The terror group also "acknowledged the grief and pain" of the relatives of members of the security services it killed.

This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of a bombing campaign which killed nine people and injured over 130, with 27 bombs exploding across Belfast - a day which became known as Bloody Friday.

"While it was not our intention to injure or kill non-combatants, the reality is that on this and on a number of other occasions, that was the consequence of our actions," said a statement.

"It is, therefore, appropriate on the anniversary of this tragic event, that we address all of the deaths and injuries of non-combatants caused by us.

"We offer our sincere apologies and condolences to their families.

"There have been fatalities amongst combatants on all sides. We also acknowledge the grief and pain of their relatives," said a statement released in Dublin.

In a phrase likely to anger many of those who lost loved ones, the IRA said there was no future in establishing a "hierarchy of victims in which some are deemed more or less worthy than others".

The statement concluded by saying the IRA remained "committed unequivocally" to the peace process and accepted its past mistakes.

The IRA killed almost 1800 people, around 650 of them civilians, during the campaign of violence.