Roundup: N.Irish Talks Suspended With No Sign of BreakthroughThe Northern Ireland peace talks were suspended by the British and Irish governments on Wednesday after three-day intensive talks, with no sign of a breakthrough.British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Berti Ahern said three days of intense talks on the Northern Ireland political process has given them fresh hope that the issues can be resolved. They noted that the talks would continue on Friday and they were optimistic about the parties reaching agreement. They were speaking after negotiations with the main pro- Agreement parties at Weston Park, Staffordshire, were suspended on Wednesday evening without a major breakthrough. The process has been stalled over the issues of Irish Republican Army (IRA) arms decommissioning, policing and British Army demilitarization. The nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) has said some progress had been made on the latter issues, but that more "clarity" was needed on the question of arms. Blair said he hoped all sides would use the next 24 hours to reflect on their positions, adding that it was a time for leadership. He said there were substantial areas of disagreement and difference. "We are going to work with complete determination and some hope that we can find a way through," he said. "The one thing that stood out from all the discussions was that we had the acceptance by all the political parties that there is no alternative to the Good Friday Agreement that it is the best basis for peace and a stable future for the people of Northern Ireland." Ahern said the arguments were well known but the solutions were not so easy. "We have worked hard to try to find those and hopefully we can, " he added. Blair missed his weekly appearance at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons to chair the talks in an attempt to find progress. SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon said some progress had been made at the talks, but there was disappointment and anger that an agreement had not been reached. Speaking as the SDLP delegation left the talks, Mallon said there had been "advances" on the issues of policing and security normalization, but not enough to satisfy his party. He also said there was still a lack of clarity on the decommissioning issue. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said there was a way of resolving the arms issue. Speaking before Wednesday's talks, he said: "It's not about renegotiating the Good Friday Agreement, it's about implementing the Good Friday Agreement - that is what is required." Former Northern Irish First Minister David Trimble, the British province's main Protestant leader who left the talks earlier in the day, said he could not think of one point where the Irish republicans had given ground. Trimble quit on July 1 over the IRA's failure to disarm. Blair must decide whether to mothball Belfast's power-sharing executive or call fresh elections for it within weeks unless he can reach a deal allowing Trimble to return to power. Trimble says Sinn Fein must persuade the IRA to begin disarming before he will share power again, but Adams insists the Protestant- dominated police force must be reformed and British troops withdrawn. The Blair-Ahern peace mission suffered a double blow on Tuesday when two hardline Protestant groups withdrew support for current reconciliation efforts. The Ulster Freedom Fighters, one of the Protestant guerrilla groups, said too much ground had been given to republicans. The Progressive Unionist Party, which has links to another guerrilla organization, also vented its frustration. |
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