The Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, said that the Northern Ireland peace process will succeed -- sooner or later.

　 He was speaking at Stormont, Belfast, during an afternoon break in the talks chaired by former US senator George Mitchell.

　 Trimble said that while the central issues of decommissioning and establishment of an executive had not yet been agreed, the Good Friday Agreement would not fail.

　 Mitchell is on the last lap of a drive aimed at getting a compromise between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Sinn Fein on the thorny issues of guerrilla disarmament and creation of new political structures in the British province.

　 Trimble said all sides were seriously tackling a long-standing stalemate.

　 The Good Friday accord, signed in April last year, aims to seal an end to violence between Protestants and Catholics by creating shared political structures and getting guerrilla groups to hand in weapons.

　 The UUP refuses to sit with Sinn Fein in a coalition government until its guerrilla ally, the Irish Republican Army, disarms. Sinn Fein says it cannot force the IRA to hand over arms used in its war against British rule.

　 Reports said Mitchell had a series of meetings with Protestant and Catholic parties and the talks could go on until Saturday.

　 Mitchell is expected to put forward his own blueprint for reviving the accord if Unionist and Sinn Fein leaders are unable to do a deal.