BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The leader of Northern Ireland's major Protestant party appealed Saturday for the Irish Republican Army to accept the 1998 peace accord as a "full and final" settlement.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said British Protestants should resume work in a power-sharing government with the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party, but only if the IRA commits to ceasing all hostile activity and disarming fully, as the Good Friday pact of 1998 proposed.
In a potentially significant sign of flexibility, Trimble told supporters at his party's annual conference they must be willing to resume power-sharing with Sinn Fein before the IRA completes its end of any deal.
"We did not say that every jot and tittle must be completed before we proceed. Neither the (British) government's formula, nor ours, say that everything must be done first," Trimble said. "Rather, both envisage a sense that paramilitarism is coming to an end soon."
Trimble emphasized that Protestants' faith in the Good Friday deal depended in part on whether Roman Catholic hard-liners backing Sinn Fein could accept it as a settlement that would "provide the full and final closure of the conflict."
He chided Sinn Fein for insisting publicly that the landmark deal would pave the way for an eventual end to Northern Ireland's status as a British territory.
In reality, Trimble argued, Sinn Fein and IRA leaders have said they were prepared to settle for "a share of power within a Northern Ireland that remains unambiguously part of the United Kingdom."
Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said he heard "some signs for encouragement" in Trimble's speech.
Trimble's chief critic within the Ulster Unionist Party, lawmaker Jeffrey Donaldson, accused Trimble of "watering down" the Ulster Unionists' traditional demands on the IRA.
Britain, Ireland, the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein have held weeks of negotiations designed to revive power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
An election to fill the provincial legislature -- which wields the power to appoint or block any Catholic-Protestant administration -- has been delayed twice because of arguments over the IRA's future intentions. The election could be scheduled next month if all sides agree.
Sinn Fein signaled Saturday it expects the election to proceed soon. In Catholic west Belfast, the power base of party leader Gerry Adams, election posters featuring the bearded Sinn Fein chief appeared at key road junctions.
Donaldson, who has led several narrowly unsuccessful bids to topple Trimble, predicted that Protestant voters would reject Ulster Unionist candidates who back the party leader's pragmatic politics.
Trimble in December 1999 overcame substantial opposition to form a four-party administration that included Sinn Fein. It fell apart in October 2002 after police accused Sinn Fein's top legislative aide of helping gather intelligence for potential IRA targets.
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