Mediator Adjourns Peace Negotiations

U.S. mediator George J. Mitchell adjourned Northern Ireland’s peace talks until next week so he could brief U.S., British and Irish leaders. Mitchell said the Ulster Unionists, the British province’s main Protestant party, and the Irish Republican Army’s political arm, Sinn Fein, had reaffirmed support for last year’s Good Friday peace accord. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who met with Mitchell in Dublin, said all the parties remain serious about seeking an end to a long-running deadlock over guerrilla disarmament. The disarmament issue has been holding up implementation of the peace pact.