Senior IRA figure Brian Keenan dies of cancer in Belfast

Brian Keenan, a commanding figure during the Irish Republican Army's long march from war to peace, died of cancer Wednesday, the Sinn Fein party announced. He was 66.

Keenan built up the IRA's weapons arsenal in the 1970s, directed its bombing campaign in England, and served on the IRA's ruling "army council" for a decade _ casting votes to break and call cease-fires in the 1990s.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams lauded Keenan as a key persuader atop the IRA command who understood the need to move into politics.

Keenan "was crucial in securing the support of the IRA leadership for the series of historic initiatives which sustained the …