Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said on Saturday that Britain's suspension of Northern Ireland's power sharing executive had angered Roman Catholic nationalists and shaken their confidence in the peace process.

Adams told a news conference in Belfast that the action put Britain in default of the landmark Good Friday peace agreement and he left open whether Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's

political wing, would take part in efforts to get the process back on track.

"The decision has shaken confidence among nationalists and republicans in the approach of this (British) government," Adams said the day after Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson

suspended the province's power sharing government because of lack of progress by the IRA on disarmament.

Adams said Sinn Fein would discuss the latest developments in a week's time and until then there would not be a decision on whether the party would go on with in-depth peace negotiations.