Kelly offers negative assessment of new proposals to SF members

Senior Sinn Fein member Mr Gerry Kelly last night delivered a largely negative analysis of the British-Irish proposals aimed at ending the political stalemate. He was addressing party activists in Belfast.

The prospects of substantive IRA movement on arms, viewed as essential to rescue the Belfast Agreement, may now rest on the outcome of a meeting between Sinn Fein leaders and the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, at Hillsborough tomorrow.

Mr Kelly's fault-finding comments about key aspects of the blueprint will cause concern to the British and Irish governments, who insist they do not know whether the IRA will initiate a process of putting their arsenals beyond use.

"When you read the government proposals closely, there are very few real commitments in it. What we have are proposals, some of which are put in a very qualified manner," said Mr Kelly.

He was especially dismissive of the initial offer to dismantle four British army structures in south Armagh and Derry in the event of a reduction in the paramilitary threat.

"The minor tinkering with military installations proposed will impress nobody, particularly as this is ring-fenced in with conditions. Take it or leave it - go and catch yourself on," Mr Kelly told a meeting of Sinn Fein's Belfast executive.

Asked at a press conference yesterday morning about the prospects of decommissioning, Mr Kelly said: "No one is saying to me you need to go and talk to the IRA and tell them to hand in their weapons."

Mr Kelly last night said Sinn Fein would seek clarification from Dr Reid tomorrow on issues such as the police implementation plan and criminal justice reform. The party's bottom line was the full implementation of the agreement.

Mr Kelly added that he still did not trust the British government "to deliver the new beginning to policing promised in the agreement".

His comments make it extremely unlikely that the 40member Sinn Fein ardchomhairle will give a definitive verdict on the package when it meets in Castlebellingham, Co Louth, today.

There was a chilly encounter between the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, and the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, at Stormont yesterday morning when they met to discuss sectarian violence in north Belfast, according to reliable sources.