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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/021010/1/33mwr.html Agence France-Presse Thursday October 10, 21:59 PM Sinn Fein's Adams tells Blair not to suspend N.Ireland assembly Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair that it would be a "mistake" to suspend power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. Following crisis talks with the prime minister in Downing Street, Adams said suspending the executive and assembly at Stormont would not resolve the current difficulties in the peace process. The province's Stormont assembly is the body where Protestants share power with Catholics under a key provision of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord. "We warned against a long vacuum which will be filled by those who want to tear this down," the Sinn Fein president said after his meeting. Adams also urged Blair not to bow to demands by Northern Ireland's Protestant first minister and Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble to expel Sinn Fein from government. Trimble has warned that he will withdraw his ministers effectively collapsing the executive if Blair does not take steps to expel Sinn Fein, the IRAs political wing by Tuesday. Concerns that London might have to reinstate direct rule on Northern Ireland and organize fresh elections came to the fore after the police raids on Sinn Fein offices in Belfast on Friday. Four people were arrested, and two charged, amid allegations that the IRA was engaged in intelligence gathering inside the Northern Ireland Office, the British department that oversees the province. The Sinn Fein president characterised his meeting with the prime minister as "cordial honest and frank". He rejected suggestions that Sinn Fein had been summoned to a meeting that would be a cross "between High Noon and Gunfight at the Okay Coral". Adams acknowledged that the events of last week, with the exposure of an alleged IRA spy ring in the Northern Ireland government, had created difficulties for all parties, including unionists and Sinn Fein. Nevertheless he insisted that republicans remained committed to the Good Friday Agreement. "We are wedded to this process. We will continue to do our best to move this process on to make progress possible," he said. As Blair headed to Moscow for crisis talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Iraq, Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid described the Blair-Adams meeting as "honest, frank and in many ways constructive". He stressed the continuing commitment of the British government to the Good Friday Agreement but warned republicans that they could not continue to sit in the assembly while at the same time engaging in paramilitary activities. Reid said that it was impossible to "sustain a situation of power-sharing where there is any suggestion that democracy is being combined with paramilitary activity or violence". He said that further talks over the crisis would continue Friday. As the fallout spreads from the major spy scandal, Northern Ireland faces the prospect of a return to direct rule from London, a move which could be taken by the weekend according to the British media. The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Blair would tell Adams that the IRA must disband if the Belfast government is to be saved. But no one will be holding their breath at the prospect of such a move by Northern Ireland's biggest Catholic paramilitary group. British government sources have said Blair is considering appointing extra ministers from London to take over the running of the Belfast executive. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
