Adams ‘disappointed’ by US snub

SINN FÉIN leader Gerry Adams admitted yesterday he was disappointed with the White House snub to his party.

Mr Adams has been refused a meeting with US President George W Bush and US Senator Ted Kennedy, keeping pressure on the republican leadership.

“It is a disappointment,” he told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Mr Adams condemned the brutal murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney, blaming the small number of republicans who “behave like thugs” and who he claimed were trying to sully their good name.

He said those responsible should step forward, acknowledging that the only way the McCartney family would get justice was through the courts.

But as Mr Adams admitted republicans had “lost possession of the ball”, former US envoy Richard Haass warned the Sinn Féin leader he could yet be ostracised like Yasser Arafat.

“The risk is that over time they will suffer the fate of people such as Yasser Arafat of being ostracised,” he said. “Gerry Adams does not want to become Yasser Arafat, and decide between the olive branch and the gun.”

Mr Haass said the snub from the White House was a clear message that the US had zero tolerance for groups using force for political ends.

Mr Adams is facing a tough reception in Washington, with his party accused of being at the heart of a political cover-up surrounding Mr McCartney’s death.

It is the first time in 10 years he has been refused entry to the official White House St Patrick’s Day celebrations as he faces increasing pressure to make a break with the IRA. But he insisted the snub did not represent a move away from the peace process.

Mr Adams acknowledged that it was a difficult time for Sinn Féin but stressed there was no going back to armed conflict.

“Republicans who want to make this work are on the back foot,” he said. “But our intention is to regain possession of the ball and drive this process on again.”