US diplomat gets special North role

A US diplomat, Mr Richard Haass (49), will be given charge, within the State Department, of steering policy on Northern Ireland. A "point man rather than a special envoy", was how one source described the role.

The Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, has sharply reduced the number of special envoys, preferring to rely on career diplomats rather than advisers brought in from outside.

Mr Haass will have several other responsibilities, sources say, including Iraq and sharing the Middle East dossier, the new administration's sanctions policy, and speech-writing. Despite his other priorities, Mr Haass's appointment is a significant indicator of the seriousness with which the administration views its engagement with the North.

The Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid, yesterday denied that the peace process had been "parked" until after the next British election, insisting that last week's agreement saw the process move "a little forward" and "set out a route map" for the next few weeks. He would continue to meet party leaders, he said in Washington.

Speaking to journalists here ahead of his meeting yesterday with Mr Powell, Dr Reid welcomed the continued engagement of the US in the North.

He said it was critical to keep up the momentum of the separate elements of the peace process, warning that when there was no movement, extremists got a resonance. Perceptions that the process had halted were mistaken, he said. Since last week there had been the Sinn Fein meeting with Gen de Chastelain; Mr David Trimble had indicated that if there was meaningful progress on decommissioning he would be able to move; and the leader of the SDLP had indicated that by June he might be able clear difficulties on policing.

On "confidence-building measures", he said he remained committed to further reducing the presence of troops, when the security situation made that possible, and was working on the possibility of an amnesty for those on the run at the time of the prison releases.