Trimble musters votes for re-election in Northern Ireland

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- David Trimble was re-elected Tuesday as leader of Northern Ireland's unity government after a bitter showdown with Protestant hard-liners who had tried to bring down the province's power-sharing government.

Trimble, a Protestant moderate who leads the Ulster Unionist Party, won with the added support of three lawmakers from a neutral party, Alliance, which represents both Irish Catholics and British Protestants.

That shift ensured Trimble's 31-29 victory in the enlarged Protestant bloc, while he once again received unanimous support from the Catholic side of the house. To be elected "first minister" of the four-party coalition required majority support from both sides' lawmakers.

Trimble embraced the IRA's breakthrough decision last month to begin getting rid of weapons in cooperation with disarmament officials. His return to office means that the administration -- formed in December 1999 but forced to shut down three times by crises -- could remain stable for months.

"We will carry through the work, and we will not allow ourselves to be distracted by the sort of mob violence that some parties descend to," said Trimble, a Protestant.