Reputed IRA Leader Begins Ulster Jail Term

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Police on Wednesday arrested Martin McGuinness, the reputed leader of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, and took him to Belfast’s Crumlin Road prison to serve a 28-day sentence for refusing to pay a fine for assaulting a policeman.

The 35-year-old McGuinness was convicted of assaulting a police officer earlier this year and fined about $225, but he refused to pay the fine or to allow anyone to pay it for him.

McGuinness is an elected member of the consultative Northern Ireland Assembly representing Sinn Fein, the IRA’s legal political arm, in Londonderry and is widely believed to be a central leader of the IRA, which hopes to drive the British out of the province and unite it with the Republic of Ireland.