Tense weekend ahead of Ulster talks

Sinn Fein will not accept any sanctions as part of a deal to restore the power-sharing executive in Belfast, party president Gerry Adams warned tonight.

“Under no circumstances will we accept the rights of our electorate being diluted or denied,” he said.

Mr Adams was in London earlier today for talks with British and Irish officials in advance of Monday’s make or break bid by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to hammer out a once and for all settlement with the pro-Agreement parties.

Intensive behind the scenes discussions will continue until the arrival at Hillsborough of Mr Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

It is understood there has some progress in relation to new legislation on policing and criminal justice, but other key areas including the scaling down of the military presence, human rights and equality have still to be sorted out.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is expected to have a tense annual meeting of his party in Belfast tomorrow, amid warnings by hardline opponents there must be no agreement with the republican leadership, no matter what.

Unionists are pushing Mr Blair to establish an independent monitoring body with powers to introduce sanctions against Sinn Fein if the IRA fail to stick by their ceasefire.

But this is being fiercely resisted by Mr Adams.

Before returning to Belfast tonight he added: “We will not be held accountable except for the Sinn Fein party and our mandate. Any move to introduce sanctions would be entirely outside the Agreement.”

With London and Dublin demanding the Provisionals empty ALL secret arms dumps and declare their campaign over, any major movement by the IRA leadership may still not be enough to satisfy hardliners inside Mr Trimble’s Ulster Unionists.

After being warned by police today that the IRA was gathering intelligence on him, south Antrim MP David Burnside said: “This scum is not fit to be in government. They are not politicians. They are not democrats.”

With the next election to the Stormont Assembly due on May 1, time is running out and even though progress was reported in London tonight, all sides admit the chances of agreement on Monday remain at less than 50-50.

Mr Trimble must resist British and Irish pressure to return to Stormont, according to Mr Burnside.

The south Antrim MP said he was warned by police today that the Provisionals had been gathering intelligence on him. Party colleague Jeffrey Donaldson and Ian Paisley Jnr, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, have also been told to review their personal security arrangements.

Mr Burnside said: “Blair is wasting his time. There is no way Unionists should consider any sort of deal with Sinn Fein, irrespective of their commitments.

“The IRA intelligence on me was current and up-to-date.

“There will be no deal because their word is a lie. Blair may be conned, but Unionists will not. Blair is acting tough on Iraq, but he is being suckered by the IRA and Sinn Fein.

“His double standards are amazing.”

Meanwhile the Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said he believed there was little chance of a breakthrough.

In Dublin he said: “It is my view that as we face into the situation, as we are aware of the detail of what’s being offered, there is actually very little likelihood of a breakthrough for Hillsborough on Monday.”

He added: “For a long time now the British government have been explaining away their failure to demilitarise on the basis of this alleged threat from dissident republicans,” he said.

“And yet they are briefing you people on an ongoing basis that suddenly, magically, all this could be done on Monday.

“So clearly they are telling lies.

“Up to now the dilemma for us is: will they continue to tell lies on that issue and will this caveat re-emerge should there be any attempt to put together a package on policing?”

Mr McLaughlin said the Government was still far away from honouring its commitments.

“We are still a long way from being satisfied that the British Government are bringing forward amendments to the existing policing legislation that will deliver on Patten,” he said.

“And clearly, unless and until that is achieved Sinn Fein will not be in a position to advocate that nationalists and republicans should give allegiance and authority to those policing arrangements.”

He said Sinn Fein had already given its bottom line, which was full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

“The disingenuous argument that the two governments don’t know precisely and absolutely what Sinn Fein requires oesn’t stand up to any examination whatsoever,” he added.

“We have told them what we require, they haven’t delivered it yet.”