The leaders of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government will hold talks later today with New York senator Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton and other US politicians on the second day of their visit to Washington.
First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan have lined up a joint meeting with the former First Lady as part of a series of briefings on the peace process with key senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill.
The meetings were taking place before the official opening of an office representing the Northern Ireland Executive in the US capital.
Senator Rodham Clinton, who visited Northern Ireland four times during her husband Mr Bill Clinton's presidency, was a keen follower of the peace process and the involvement of women in Northern Ireland politics when she was First Lady.
She was being briefed by both ministers on the work of the executive, including its efforts to tackle the root causes of sectarian disturbances in North Belfast and also the development of Northern Ireland's new police service.
Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan were also holding joint and separate meetings with senators and congressmen including members of the influential House of Representatives International Relations Committee which has been investigating links between the IRA and left wing rebels in Columbia following the arrests of three Irishmen in the country last summer.
In his first visit to the US as leader of the nationalist SDLP, Mr Durkan and his deputy Ms Brid Rodgers have also lined up talks with senators Mr Edward Kennedy and Mr Chris Dodd as well as the Friends of Ireland Group.
Mr Trimble was also meeting Congressman Mr William Dellahunt who has been probing the links between the IRA and the Colombian rebel group FARC.
Mr Trimble and Mr Durkan will officially open a new bureau in the heart of Washington later today to promote the work and interest of their devolved government.
PA