Mitchell's skills to be tested at talks in Stormont

THE chairmanship skills of former Senator George Mitchell will be severely tested today as unionists and nationalists confront…

THE chairmanship skills of former Senator George Mitchell will be severely tested today as unionists and nationalists confront each other at a plenary session of the Stormont interparty talks amid great political uncertainty.

The unresolved issue of how the matter of decommissioning paramilitary weapons is to be treated in the course of the political talks will again be addressed.

The wrangle over the decommissioning issue has stalled progress on the agenda for the talk, just as the political process outside is locked into the demand for a formal renewal of the IRA ceasefire.

Yesterday, the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, commented on reports that the British government, in order to retain unionist support in the Commons, may already have decided to reject the formula he communicated with them from the republican movement concerning the conditions in which the ceasefire could be unequivocally renewed.

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Mr Hume said on RTE Radio "If there are political games being played because of the numbers game at Westminster - in other words, that this situation of ours is becoming part of Westminster party politics - that would be a serious mistake."

He confirmed that he had put specific proposals to the British Prime Minister, Mr Major, arising out of his dialogue with the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, but he said there was "nothing revolutionary" about these proposals, and they were not proposals that threatened any section of the community in Northern Ireland.

After today's plenary session of the political talks, there will be further bilateral and trilateral meetings between the SDLP, the UUP and other parties to see if any grounds for accommodation on the decommissioning issue can be identified.