Mandelson denies 'militarist' charge

The border checkpoint near Strabane

Secretary of State Peter Mandelson has hit back at Sinn Fein accusations that he is a "militarist".

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Mandelson said standards that Sinn Fein are demanding on demilitarisation from the British government should apply equally to the IRA.

Peter Mandelson: "I'm not a militarist"

He was responding to the dismissal by Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness of his earlier comments that the price for making a mistake on border security could be a repeat of the 1998 Omagh bombing.

"Far from being a militarist, I am a demilitarist.

"In the spirit of Christmas, I say to Sinn Fein and the IRA that the same standard of demilitarisation must apply to them equally if we are going to see the progress that we want in normalisation and I hope that's something they will heed and act upon without further delay."

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr McGuinness told BBC Radio that the political deadlock could be broken but that there needed to be "serious and meaningful demilitarisation".

"The reality is that all of the watchtowers and lookout posts and soldiers and helicopters in South Armagh did not stop the Omagh bomb," he said.

"It is very important that British securocrats and militarists who are involved in this process with the rest of us, recognise that the best defenders of the Good Friday Agreement in South Armagh are the nationalists and republicans of south Armagh.

"They are more effective than a million British soldiers. I think the penny hasn't dropped with Peter Mandelson."

The Stormont education minister was speaking amid continuing efforts in Belfast, London and Dublin to find a way out of the political impasse.

Relations between the British Government and Sinn Fein have been strained in recent months because of republican disappointment at policing reforms and the pace of demilitarisation.

Unionists have also been angry at the IRA's handling of the disarmament issue.

First Minister David Trimble has banned Sinn Fein ministers from attending official cross-border meetings to try to force the IRA to "substantially re-engage" with the body overseeing decommissioning.

Meanwhile, the army has announced that demolition would begin on three patrol bases near the border in County Fermanagh.

RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said in September that the bases would be scrapped.

Bulldozers will start clearing the sites at Mullan Bridge, Clonatty Bridge and Annaghmartin after Christmas.

Sinn Fein has demanded that British military installations should be removed from the border area of south Armagh.

But police and army chiefs have resisted the pressure claiming the lookout posts are crucial to security in the area.

Martin McGuinness: Call for action in border areas

Officials in London and Dublin have, however, been trying to build on the momentum created by last week's visit to Northern Ireland by United States President Bill Clinton.

Mr McGuinness said Sinn Fein was playing its full part in those negotiations but said all sides, especially the British Government, must agree to honour all their commitments.

"There are very serious negotiations taking place. We in Sinn Fein are involved in speaking with the two governments.

"I hope that all of that will lead to the breaking of the deadlock," he said.

"But I think that key and fundamental to all of that is an acceptance by parties to the process that if they make promises, if they make commitments as the British Prime Minister himself did face-to-face with Gerry Adams and myself in May of this year, then they have to keep them.

"Peter Mandelson's role in all of this is a matter of serious consideration."