Sinn Fein Claims Talks Imperiled

Britain is jeopardizing the Northern Ireland peace process by insisting that the IRA disarm before its political ally, Sinn Fein, is allowed to join talks, a Sinn Fein leader said Sunday.

Britain’s failure to start fullfledged peace talks including Sinn Fein “effectively devalues and subverts the peace process,” Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s de facto deputy leader, said in a speech in Bodenstown, 20 miles south of Dublin.

On Saturday, Sinn Fein’s president, Gerry Adams, warned during a visit to South Africa that IRA violence might resume if demands for all-party talks are not met.