- The Observer, Sunday February 2 2003
Richard Haas will hold talks with the main nationalist and unionist parties as Dublin, London and Washington attempt to secure a deal that they hope will lead to the effective end of the IRA.
Discussions between Haas and the parties, including Sinn Fein, will take place on Wednesday. Haas's trip indicates that the Bush administration has not lost interest in Northern Ireland, according to British diplomats.
The US President's envoy will call on the IRA to carry out a public act of disarmament and end all paramilitary activity. He will also urge unionists to go back into government with Sinn Fein once their demands are met.
But the prospects of a deal that would restore devolution and power-sharing in Belfast still look remote. David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader and former Northern Ireland First Minister, said last night that the UUP would not be offering any more concessions to republicans.
'The ball is in the IRA's court. They know what has to be done: disarm and end all paramilitary activity for good.'
But one of Sinn Fein's leading negotiators has criticised the unionists for focusing only on the IRA's existence.
Writing in The Observer today, Gerry Kelly, the North Belfast MLA, said: 'People have been murdered and countless Catholic homes destroyed. However, the focus of the military establishment and the PSNI remains entirely on the IRA. An IRA which has been on cessation for five years; an IRA which is no threat to the peace process and which has publicly stated this.'
