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Blair, Ahern to Hold Roundtable Talks With N.Irish Leaders
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern planned to hold roundtable talks on Thursday with the Northern Ireland parties to try to break the political stalemate.
Downing Street said that the two prime ministers would fly into the province to hold talks with all of the pro-agreement parties, suggesting that anti-agreement parties may be excluded.
The parties are expect to discuss the issues of policing reform and the disarmament and demilitarization of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which is threatening to destabilize the province's power sharing institutions.
Intense discussions have been continuing in an attempt to achieve some progress on the issues before the forthcoming local government and general elections move the focus away from finding agreement.
Last week, Ahern said that an interim deal may be all that could be achieved before the parties and Blair turn their attention to the election.
Such a deal could include the IRA re-engaging with the Independent International Decommissioning Commission to discuss arms, movement from the British government on demilitarization, and the Ulster Unionists dropping sanctions on Sinn Fein.
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