Senator George Mitchell has adjourned his review of the Northern peace process. Speaking before his briefing with the Taoiseach in Dublin, this evening, Mr. Mitchell said that his nine weeks of meetings with the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties had been intensive, but cordial. Mr. Ahern said that there were difficult issues which had still to be resolved before there could be a final agreement. Mr. Mitchell will also appraise the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the US President, Bill Clinton, before returning to Belfast on Monday.
In a statement made earlier at Stormont, the Senator said that he expected to have his report on the implementation of the Good Friday agreement ready shortly after he renewed his meetings with the North's parties next week. This statement was the first formal indication that the review process is in its closing stages. Senator Mitchell said that he would also be obtaining an assessment from the International Commission on Decommissioning.
The Senator said that his meetings with the parties were well advanced and on the basis of what had happened over the past nine weeks he remained convinced that they were sincere and acting in good faith in seeking the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. He said that they wanted devolution and decommissioning, but the problem was there were differences among the parties on how those objectives could be reached.
Meanwhile, the Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, said that decommissioning was a voluntary process and that the best way to bring it about was to establish new institutions.
