N. Ireland political gloom grows

Politicians fear a spread of sectarian rioting

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon has repeated his call for the IRA to move on arms decommissioning.

He said the failure to disarm was not only against the wishes of the unionist community and the British Government, it was against the democratic wish of the Irish people following the Good Friday Agreement.

Mallon, a leader of the mainly-Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party, claimed there had been "secret deals" between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the government on demilitarisation.

Mallon told RTE radio that IRA arms were illegal and the failure to disarm was an implied threat to the state.

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He was speaking as British Prime Minister Tony Blair prepared for Downing Street talks on Thursday with the Rev. Ian Paisley's hardline Democratic Unionists.

After their successes in the UK general election they were urging Blair to admit the Good Friday peace accord could not work in its current form.

With the party still celebrating its electoral gains at the expense of David Trimble's Ulster Unionists, DUP Assembly member Ian Paisley Junior said it was now clear the Good Friday agreement did not have the support of both Protestants and Catholics.

First Minister Trimble has threatened to resign on July 1 if the provisional IRA do no not begin arms decommissioning.

But there was still no sign of the republican leadership moving on demands for them to begin.

Sinn Fein's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said senior Ulster Unionists had refused to go public on private admissions that the IRA's decision to allow arms dumps to be examined was a "powerful development."

McGuinness told RTE he was not resigned to Mr Trimble's departure as he had shown himself to be "very unpredictable indeed."

He added he would like to see the Ulster Unionist leader continue in the role.

President George W Bush's special envoy to Ireland, Richard Hass, was also having talks with the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid on Thursday amid growing fears in Belfast that the latest outbreak of sectarian rioting which left nearly 40 police officers hurt could spread.

On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the IRA had issued a statement saying it would not meet others' demands to begin disarming.

AP said that in a statement to Irish media, the group insisted it was dealing honestly and accused the British government of failing to meet its own promises on police reform and military cutbacks in Northern Ireland.

"Every commitment we have entered into we have honoured. On two major points in this agreement -- policing and demilitarisation -- the British government has reneged," the IRA said.

While noting that "the issue of arms" might be resolved one day, the statement emphasized: "It will not be resolved by (Protestant) unionist ultimatums or on British terms."

Trimble dismissed the IRA statement as "surreal," AP reported. He said he had agreed to work in government alongside Sinn Fein, the republican political party, only on condition that IRA disarmament followed.

On Tuesday, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern predicted that the Belfast coalition would face collapse if the IRA didn't start scrapping weapons.