01/10/2003

Trimble and Adams meet for fifth time

UUP leader, David Trimble and Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams are to meet today for the fifth time in two weeks in an attempt to break the current political logjam.

Mr Trimble and Mr Adams, accompanied by Michael McGimpsey and Martin McGuinness respectively, will meet in London to discuss ways in which a deal can be brokered thus enabling local Assembly elections to take place before the onset of winter.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's meeting, Mr Adams said no response from the IRA, on decommissioning or otherwise, would be sought until an election date was set.

"The election is going to be the accelerator for the process. We are not going near the IRA until we get a date certain and publicly proclaimed for an election," he said.

Mr Trimble said it was about time republicans endorsed the Good Friday Agreement as a whole. He added: "It is often forgotten that Republicans have not yet actually endorsed the Agreement as a whole. It is time they did.

"It is, of course, also time that they followed that through by finally acting in an exclusively peaceful and democratic manner.

"The Assembly is still suspended and we cannot say whether that suspension will be lifted this month, this year or whenever."

(MB)

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