Mitchell due to brief President Clinton in Washington

George Mitchell is on his way back to Washington to brief President Clinton on his efforts to maintain the Northern peace process. This morning, the former American Senator spent about an hour with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Mr. Mitchell again said that he will not impose a deadline for completion of his review. He is due back in Belfast on Monday for more talks.

There is still no clear indication of whether or not agreement between the Northern parties will be possible by the time George Mitchell closes his review. It is now thought that the review report could be issued as early as next week. As with the Taoiseach yesterday, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Blair's talks this morning were a briefing session on the current state of his review. Monday's Belfast meeting could be the final round of talks with the parties.

The Northern Secretary, Peter Mandleson, has been saying that if more time is needed to get a deal it will be available. However, Mr. Mitchell has been making no secret of the fact that he wants to finish this job as soon as possible. There is no formal deadline, but the hope must be that the very fact that Senator Mitchell has signalled that he wants to wrap things up soon will help focus minds on a settlement.