Bush Seeks to Boost N. Ireland Peace Process

CRAWFORD, Texas —  President Bush launched a round of telephone diplomacy Friday in an attempt to boost the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland.

Bush confirmed that he had called the Rev. Ian Paisley and urged the Protestant leader to enter into a power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein, a predominantly Catholic party that is considered the political arm of the Irish Republican Army. White House officials said the president also planned to telephone Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, although it appeared unlikely he would do so by the end of the day.

“I was just trying to be part of the process of getting Ian Paisley’s group ... and Gerry Adams’ group to the table to get a deal done,” Bush told reporters during a stop at a restaurant near his Texas ranch. “Hopefully, it will help.”

Bush said Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain and Bertie Ahern of Ireland had been working to bring new life to a new power-sharing agreement between Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party and Adams’ Sinn Fein.

“I appreciate their efforts, and anything I can do to help keep the process moving forward, I’m more than willing to do,” Bush said.

Bush telephoned shortly before Paisley and his aides began discussions on a draft of the power-sharing plan that would involve complete disarmament by the IRA in return for a more active role in the government.

In Belfast, Paisley said he told Bush that Northern Ireland had its own history of terrorism, and that any power-sharing agreement must ensure that the violence would not be repeated.

“I reminded the president of the fact that he would not have terrorists in his government, and that we must be satisfied that IRA terrorism is over and cannot return,” Reuters quoted Paisley as saying.

The United States played an active role in brokering the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, which established a Protestant-Catholic government to oversee Northern Ireland.

But that power-sharing arrangement has been problematic, and efforts to stabilize it have been hampered by the IRA’s reluctance to surrender all of its weapons.

The outreach to Northern Ireland’s feuding parties was one of several global issues tackled by Bush during his Thanksgiving week retreat at the family’s 1,600-acre Texas ranch.

He held a private luncheon Wednesday for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, which withdrew its troops from the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq after a new Socialist government took office in Madrid in March.

On Friday, Bush offered support for European efforts to get Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program; warned Ukraine that the world expected a fair resolution of its disputed presidential election; and promised to work with Congress to avert retaliatory tariffs over a U.S. law declared illegal by the World Trade Organization.

The president has said he intends to make a concerted effort during his second term to reengage with key allies and to support multilateral efforts to resolve international disputes. Bush has promised to visit Europe shortly after his inauguration as part of that outreach.