DUP and Sinn Féin must talk, says US envoy

THE Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists must speak directly to Sinn Féin if the problems in the North’s peace process are to be resolved, a US official claimed yesterday.

As he prepared to meet members of the Strabane District Policing Partnership, Ambassador Mitchell Reiss, who is President George Bush's special envoy, urged unionists and republicans to thrash out their differences in talks.

He also claimed he was more encouraged about the prospect of broader participation in policing after recent discussions with Sinn Féin and other parties.