Trimble calls for review of Good Friday accord

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JULY 29. In a significant development, the moderate Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) chief, Mr. David Trimble, has called for a ``substantial'' review of the Good Friday Agreement effectively throwing his weight behind the party hardliners opposed to the accord.

His remarks, soon after his return from the U.S., followed a similar demand by two party hawks, Mr. Jeffrey Donaldson, and Mr. David Burnside, who announced their withdrawal from the peace process two days ago saying they did not want to continue to sit with Sinn Fein in a coalition Government so long as its armed wing, the IRA, continued to hang on to its weapons.

This is the first time that Mr. Trimble, one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, has publicly opposed it prompting observers to sound the death knell of the British and Irish Governments' efforts to save the peace process.

His comments were seen as a ``challenge'' to Mr. Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart, Mr. Bertie Ahern's plea that there is no alternative to the Good Friday Agreement.

They have been working on a compromise package to salvage the three-year-old accord which has been been plunged into a crisis over de-weaponisation.

Mr. Trimble, who resigned on July 1. as head of the provincial Government to force the IRA to disarm, said he was not optimistic about a change in IRA's position.

``This means that we are into Plan B and I think there is going to be a substantial review of the agreement. I'm not saying that will definitely happen but there is every possibility we will be into a review'', he said on Saturday. The Guardian called his remarks a ``blow'' to the peace efforts.

The Sinn Fein reacted sharply saying this showed Mr. Trimble had joined the anti-agreement group in his party, nearly half of which is believed to be opposed to the accord.

Mr. Trimble's new tough line is said to be a result of the pressure on him from party hardliners who believe that his moderate position has alienated the UUP from the people.

He was blamed for the party's poor performance in the recent elections in which the more militant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) made substantial gains at UUP's expense.

His bid to buy peace with party hawks has brought him into a head-on confrontation with Sinn Fein which has made clear that it would not buckle under pressure. The political tension in Northern Ireland has heightened after renewed sectarian violence in North Belfast which saw more clashes for the second day on Saturday.

Two shooting incidents were reported from the Protestant Ardoyne district, a chronic flashpoint, and though the violence was on a much smaller scale than on the previous night the situation remained tense.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr. John Reid, described the flare-up as an attempt to destroy the peace process and appealed to the people not to be misled by such elements.

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