DATE=2/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NORTHERN IRELAND (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-258826
BYLINE=LOURDES NAVARRO
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The British government has proposed
legislation to suspend Northern Ireland's power-
sharing government. Lourdes Navarro in London reports
the proposal would not come into force until next
week, giving the British and Irish governments crucial
time to persuade the Irish Republican Army -- the
I-R-A -- to disarm.
TEXT: Northern Ireland's power-sharing government was
formed only nine weeks ago, and now it is very close
to being suspended indefinitely.
Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Mandelson,
presented a bill to parliament Friday giving him the
power to take over direct control of the troubled
province sometime this coming week.
Whether this happens depends on whether the Irish
Republican Army agrees to disarm in the near future.
A disarmament commission reported this past Monday
that the I-R-A had completely failed to begin handing
in its weapons -- one of the requirements of Northern
Ireland's 1998 peace accord.
In response, Northern Ireland's largest Protestant
party, the Ulster Unionists, said Britain also should
suspend the new Northern Ireland legislature, on which
they sit with the I-R-A's political wing, Sinn Fein.
The Ulster Unionists say if that does not happen,
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble will resign as
the assembly's leader.
Leaders from Britain, the Irish Republic and the
United States are frantically trying to prevent the
suspension of the Northern Ireland government. The
prime ministers of Britain and Ireland say the
question of disarmament must be settled once and for
all. President Clinton urged all the parties to work
together to resolve the crisis, but he said he did
not underestimate how difficult a resolution will be.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has called the proposed
suspension disgraceful. He said it has already
undermined his talks with the I-R-A, and would make
disarmament even more difficult.
The I-R-A has given little sign that it will hand over
its cache of arms any time soon, although negotiators
say there has been some progress.
NEB/LN/JWH/ENE/WTW
04-Feb-2000 12:42 PM EDT (04-Feb-2000 1742 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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