Unionist actions provoking killing spree, says Adams

David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists are encouraging a new loyalist paramilitary killing spree by threatening Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams claimed today.

Mr Adams also urged the British government not to suspend the North's devolved political institutions if the UUP quits the Stormont cabinet in the New Year.

Mr Trimble has set Sinn Fein a January 18 deadline to provide guarantees that the IRA will disband or else his ministers will walk out of the executive.

But with Loyalist paramilitaries behind a spate of sectarian shootings in Belfast, Mr Adams warned the Unionists’ actions could provoke further murders.

He said: “Those soberly suited people in the UUP are encouraging sectarian killings.”

The Ulster Unionists have already vowed to boycott all cross border ministerial meetings involving Sinn Fein.

But it is the threat to pull down the political institutions and plunge Northern Ireland’s peace process into crisis which has sent alarm bells ringing in London and Dublin.

The move, which was ratified at a meeting of the UUP’s ruling council on Saturday, comes after Unionist confidence has been drained by a series of allegations that the IRA has been training left-wing terrorists in Colombia and was behind the raid on Special Branch officers at a Belfast police station.

The provisionals have also been orchestrating street violence along some of the city’s sectarian flashpoints, they claim.

If Mr Trimble is not satisfied that Sinn Fein is totally committed to democratic means by January 18 then the power-sharing administration would almost certainly be left with just nationalists and republicans.

But after Mr Adams held talks with the SDLP leader Mark Durkan at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, today to discuss the crisis he insisted the British and Irish governments must press on with implementing the Good Friday Agreement regardless of what action Unionists take.

He said: “Tony Blair should not be following the Unionist agenda and should not be even contemplating suspension of the institutions.”

The West Belfast MP insisted that it was now up to the two governments and all other pro-Agreement parties to minimise the damage caused by a Unionist walk-out.

“Unionism will at some point in the future be up to the task of managing (the peace process) but we can’t wait for them,” he said.

The Sinn Fein leader refused to blame the UUP directly for the current problems, but he claimed that its leader had assured him there was nothing to worry about going into last weekend’s council meeting.

He added: “I met David Trimble 10 days ago. David Trimble told me there wouldn’t be any problem at the conference on Saturday, the problem would come at (next year’s Assembly) elections.”

Sinn Fein has now consulted its lawyers over what Mr Adams called a breach of the agreement but he stressed that did not mean the party would be taking legal action.

However, he has called for urgent meetings with both the British government and Mr Trimble.