Clinton upbeat amid scepticism

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, DEC. 12. The U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, launched his peace `mission' in Ireland today saying he had come to `purge' the province of the `demons of the past' but his upbeat statement was not quite matched by the mood on the ground which remained sceptical.

With neither the Unionists nor the Republicans inclined to make concessions, no breakthrough in the stalled peace process was expected as Mr. Clinton began his three-day visit to Ireland and U.K., his last official excursion abroad before he lays down office next month.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr. Peter Mandelson, instead chose to stress Mr. Clinton's contribution to the peace efforts and hoped that his presence would `warm up' the climate which, in the past month, has become frosty enough to start worrying the British Government, and indeed all those who have been working to restore peace in the region.

Mr. Clinton had his work cut out as he prepared to appeal to the two sides to get the Good Friday Agreement back on the rails. His talks in Dublin, where he arrived this morning, were seen only as of a `symbolic' nature and the real business starts tomorrow when he meets representatives of the Unionists and the Sinn Fein in Belfast.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, would also be present during the talks to be held at the Stormont Castle. Basically, he would try and persuade the Sinn Fein to start the process of arms decommissioning by the IRA which the Unionists say is the main roadblock to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. For the Unionists, Mr. Clinton's message would be to revoke their ban on the Sinn Fein participation in cross-border ministerial meetings. These are the two main sticking points, apart from other peripheral issues like the Sinn Fein's insistence on reducing security presence in Northern Ireland and its reservations on the new policing.

Mr. Clinton, accompanied by his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea, were received by the Irish President, Ms. Mary McAleese, who is incidentally the first Irish head of state to come from Northern Ireland. Later, he had discussions with the Irish Prime Minister, Mr. Bertie Ahern, and visited Dundalk which is the heart of Republican dissidence before leaving for Belfast late in the evening.

The visit coincides with an escalation of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, mainly engineered by the Real IRA - the IRA dissidents who broke off from the parent body when it signed the Good Friday Agreement. Mr. Mandelson has warned of a `real threat' of terrorist attacks in the run-up to Christmas and New Year's festivities. The British media meanwhile is speculating about Mr. Clinton's continued involvement in Irish affairs even after he relinquishes office and there is a talk that he might cast himself in the role of a peace envoy to Northern Ireland - like the former U.S. Senator, Mr. George Mitchell, who is a peace envoy to West Asia.

A spokesman for Mr. Clinton however sought to play down such speculation and was quoted in The Guardian as saying: ``We have to see what happens in the next few weeks.''

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Section  : International
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