George Mitchell, Resumes discussions tomorrow
There are to be further discussions at Stormont tomorrow involving the pro-Agreement parties and George Mitchell. The Ulster Unionist Party has spent much of the day considering the terms of a deal on offer from the IRA, but the details of those discussions are unknown due to the media blackout.It is thought that an IRA statement believed to be on the negotiating table may include a commitment to an unbreakable peace and the appointment of an IRA member to liase with the decommissioning body. However, decommissioning in the short term is believed to be unlikely. Earlier, Sinn Féin's Bairbre De Brun said that such speculation had not been helpful and was making the task more difficult.
Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party said this morning that if the Ulster Unionists accepted the wording of an IRA statement, the organisation would appoint an interlocutor to work with the decommissing body. But Mr Hutchinson doubted whether that would lead to actual decommissioning in the immediate future. David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party said that Senator George Mitchell was trying to close the gap between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Féin on decommissioning and devolution, and that the gap was close to being bridged. He said that an IRA statement was something many people thought they would never see. However, the DUP deputy leader, Peter Robinson, said that the wider Unionist community wanted nothing less than actual decommissioning.
As hopes continue for a breakthrough, the SDLP leader,John Hume, has been presented with the Legion of Honour, France's highest honour. At a ceremony in Paris, the French Minister for European Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, paid tribute to Mr Hume's decisive role in seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict in the North.
