Wednesday August 1 8:46 AM ET

UK and Ireland Launch Last-Ditch N.Irish Peace Plan

By Martin Cowley

BELFAST (Reuters) - Britain and Ireland on Wednesday launched a new package to get Northern Ireland peace talks back on track, promising a new look at paramilitary disarmament, police reform and security, including British troop numbers.

The document, which is intended to breathe new life into the landmark 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, insists that ''the agreement can only succeed if all parts of it are implemented together.''

It emphasizes that the two governments see guerrilla disarmament as an ``indispensable part'' of the agreement.

But it avoids setting any date for the start or completion of disarmament by the Irish republican IRA, an omission likely to infuriate pro-British Unionists who have demanded fast action from the guerrillas.

Politicians from the British province's Protestant majority and Roman Catholic minority are deadlocked over the lack of guerrilla disarmament, over police reforms to bring more Roman Catholics into the Protestant-dominated force, and on the size of Britain's military presence in the province.

David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party -- the main Protestant party -- resigned as head of Northern Ireland's government in June in protest at the lack of disarmament.

Britain, which has sovereignty over the province, must decide by August 12 whether to suspend the home-rule government and reimpose direct rule from London or call fresh elections -- both moves likely to plunge the process into fresh crisis.

The latest package was presented on a ``take-it-or-leave-it'' basis and a response was demanded by next Monday.

Trimble again called on the IRA to disarm and said his party would examine the new blueprint on Monday.

``The crisis will only be resolved by republicans fulfilling their obligation (to disarm). The paper's other proposals will be irrelevant in the absence of decommissioning,'' he said.

Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political ally, said in a statement: ``Sinn Fein is coming to this document critically but in a constructive frame of mind.'' He added that his party's executive would meet on Friday to study the package.

``FAIR, BALANCED AND JUSTIFIED''

The two governments described it as a ``fair, balanced and justified package of proposals'' which would help deliver the ''full and early implementation'' of the Good Friday Agreement.

Britain and Ireland are desperate to keep the province's power-sharing government running because it embodies hopes for a permanent end to 30 years of conflict which cost 3,600 lives.

But the agreement has staggered from crisis to crisis for three years and the August 12 deadline looms large.

``No one should underestimate the serious consequences for the stability of the agreement and for the future of Northern Ireland if we can't find an agreed way forward before that date,'' Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid said.

There were some new elements in the document, firstly the prospect of an amnesty for fugitive guerrillas.

``The governments accept that it would be a natural development...for such prosecutions not to be pursued,'' it said.

Promised changes in policing, which have upset both sides of Northern Ireland's sectarian divide, will be looked at afresh. Sinn Fein's demand for plastic bullets to be banned will also be considered.

If the security threat from guerrilla groups proves to have diminished, Britain has promised to demolish an army base and two large watchtowers as part of a ``progressive rolling program'' of
reducing the number of troops and installations.

The two governments also pledged to appoint judges to look at allegations of security force involvement in several high-profile murders, including the killings of two human rights lawyers in recent years.

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