|
|
 |
World | ||||||||||||
|
Mandelson Warns N.Irish Unionists against Fresh DemandsBritain's Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson warned pro-British Ulster Unionists on Sunday against putting sticks in the wheels of progress if the Irish Republican Army began to disarm.Irish republicans needed to be assured that the main Protestant party would not make fresh demands if the British province's squabbling politicians succeeded in bridging a persistent impasse over guerrilla weapons, he said. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has signaled he may be willing to return to the power-sharing assembly without IRA disarmament in return for a commitment it will hand in weapons. Mandelson, speaking to Roman Catholic and Protestant teenagers from both sides of the Irish border, said a failure to realize the full promise of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord could rekindle recriminations that fueled decades of conflict. "We're in danger of recreating that vicious circle we thought the agreement had broken for good, where two sides are in endless rounds of blame and insult...reinforcing the fears and prejudice of the other side," the Reuters reported. Mandelson said there was a sense of urgency to break the stalemate and prevent the peace accord "from slipping away". But, with a week to go to the landmark pact's second anniversary, chances of progress look slim. Mandelson warned that "sparks" of trouble could lead to a fresh wave of violence but added: "I don't think anyone wants to plan on going back to the bad old ways".
 In This Section 
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright by People's Daily Online, all right reserved | | Mirror in U.S. | Mirror in Japan | Mirror in Edu-Net | Mirror in Tech-Net | |
