Jeffrey Donaldson, to put alternative plan to David Trimble
The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is to meet Jeffrey Donaldson, the anti-Good Friday Agreement MP, ahead of Saturday's council meeting which is to vote on a return to Stormont on the basis of the IRA offer on disarmament. Mr Donaldson has requested the private meeting to put forward an alternative plan which he was unwilling to reveal to the media. He says the Provisional IRA's offer to allow inspectors to look at some of its arms dumps does not constitute decommissioning. The Taoiseach has warned that the issue of RUC reform should not be linked to support for the Hillsborough proposals when Ulster Unionists make their decision on Saturday.
The Ulster Unionist Party today lost a council seat in a by-election to the DUP. The seat in Banbridge, County Down, was won by DUP's Paul Rankin, a 24-year-old shop assistant, in a by-election caused by the resignation of UUP Councillor Tom Gribben, who represented the Dromore Ward. Mr Rankin defeated Ulster Unionist candidate, Gavin Hughes, by about 200 votes on the second count. The outcome has prompted counter claims by the pro- and anti-Agreement camps. David Trimble's supporters claim that Mr Hughes was a supporter of Jeffrey Donaldson and paid the price. However, those close to the candidate claim that the party leadership's stance on a return to government had cost him the seat.
The British government today described as "complete and total fiction" a newspaper report that President Clinton and Tony Blair have disagreed over changes to the RUC. Today's Guardian newspaper claims that the close relationship between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair is under strain because the president has refused pleas from the prime minister to urge Sinn Fein and the Irish government to compromise on the name change to the force. A Downing Street spokesman said this morning that the story was "total nonsense" and that the President was "supportive" and continued "to work closely with the British and Irish governments to move the peace process forward." He added that the US government "is as amazed as we are at this account".
The US Government has also dismissed the report. The US National Security adviser, Sandy Berger, described the report as total and complete fiction. When asked about Saturday's meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council he made an appeal for progress in the peace process.
However a loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters, today rejected the IRA's offer to put its weapons beyond use. In a statement, following a meeting of its leadership, the UFF said it remained committed to the peace process but ruled out any move towards decommissioning any of its own guns. It said the UFF was not convinced the IRA commitment to put its arms beyond use represented an intention to disarm.
