N. Irish Peace Talks Resume

03/04/2001| IslamWeb

WESTON PARK, England (Reuters) - Rival Northern Ireland factions held urgent peace talks hosted by the British and Irish prime ministers under the shadow of some of the worst rioting in Belfast for years. (Read photo caption below)The talks at a secluded country house in the English midlands were reconvened late on Friday only hours after more than 100 police officers were hurt when Catholic rioters went on the rampage in the Northern Ireland capital.
Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political ally, told reporters the discussions with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern and Northern Ireland's political parties would resume on Saturday morning.
He said the British government had not done enough to implement Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
Blair had insisted it was the last opportunity to revitalize the Northern Ireland peace process, which has stalled over a lack of guerrilla disarmament and demands for reforms of the police and calls for fewer British troops in the province.
But the tone of the discussions appeared to have been soured by some of the worst rioting in Belfast for years.
Police used water cannon and plastic bullets after being bombarded with petrol and acid bombs. Police chiefs said the unrest had been carefully orchestrated.
Adams said the force used by the police had been unacceptable to Catholic residents of the Ardoyne area of Belfast where the trouble had flared.
Blair and Ahern hosted three days of talks earlier this week at Weston Park with little sign of progress and officials said there would not be another chance any time soon.
RIVAL FACTIONS
Rival factions gave no indication that a breakthrough was in the offing.Protestant leader David Trimble made clear he wanted to see progress on disarmament by the Irish Republican Army, which has so far refused to hand in any of its guns.
Bairbre de Brun of Sinn Fein blamed the British government for lack of progress toward implementing the peace agreement.
Politicians from the province's Protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority blame each other for lack of progress in implementing the peace accord, aimed at ending three decades of sectarian and political conflict that killed more than 3,000 people.
Trimble quit as Northern Ireland's First Minister on July 1 over the IRA's failure to disarm.
Blair must decide whether to suspend Belfast's power-sharing executive or call fresh elections for it within weeks unless he can reach a deal allowing Trimble to return to his post.
Trimble says Sinn Fein must get the IRA to begin disarming before he will share power again. Adams insists the Protestant-dominated police force must be reformed and British troops withdrawn.
The Good Friday agreement restored home rule to Northern Ireland after years of direct control from London. The IRA and other mainstream guerrilla groups are observing cease-fires while the politicians talk but tensions are running high.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A man pushes a trolley carrying baskets of pigeons past the burnt out remains of vehicles in the Ardoyne area of Belfast July 13, 2001. More than 50 police officer were injured overnight in some of the worst violence seen on the streets of the British province in recent years. (Paul McErlane/Reuters)