[Those of us who are somewhat cynical said at the beginning of this "peace process" that it was merely a means for the IRA to reorganize. Do not be surprised if a link betwen the IRA and AQ appears, although I'm sure it's deeply buried. What AQ did in New York and Washington, and now Bali, is what the IRA has been doing for decades, except on a larger scale.]]

Belfast — Britain will strip power from local Catholic and Protestant politicians within hours and resume sole responsibility for running Northern Ireland, the British governor announced Monday.

Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid said the order to suspend the authority of Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration and legislature would take effect at midnight (7 p.m. EDT) and last indefinitely. He defended his intervention as essential to prevent the collapse of the coalition, which has taken years of negotiations to forge and sustain.

"It has become clear that decisive action is needed to safeguard the progress made," Mr. Reid told reporters at Hillsborough Castle, his state residence outside Belfast.

Mr. Reid's decision followed a threat by the major Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, to withdraw from power-sharing — the key goal of the Good Friday peace pact of 1998 — because of alleged Irish Republican Army spying.

First Minister David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists and the local administration, had set Tuesday as a deadline for Britain to intervene.

Mr. Trimble had pressed in vain for Mr. Reid to expel Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party, rather than to take power away from all four parties in the coalition. But Mr. Trimble said he accepted Mr. Reid's move as "a poor second best," and offered to resume co-operation with Sinn Fein if the IRA disbanded.

Four people, including Sinn Fein's top legislative aide, are behind bars awaiting trial for espionage-related charges following police raids Oct. 4. The suspects are accused of stealing documents from Mr. Reid's office that allegedly include details of potential IRA targets and records of talks between Britain and other key parties.

Mr. Reid said the accusations against Sinn Fein had damaged Protestant confidence, but kicking out any party now would be premature.

He expressed hope that negotiations in coming months would rebuild trust, particularly between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein, and allow Britain to restore power to locals before elections to Northern Ireland's legislature next May.

In remarks apparently addressing the IRA-Sinn Fein movement, he emphasized, "The time has come for people to face up to that choice between violence and democracy."

Britain's move means the 108-member legislature will no longer convene. Instead, Mr. Reid, a Scotsman appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2000, will oversee the administration's 12 departments with help from a beefed-up contingent of lawmakers from London.

Mr. Reid indicated he planned to consult regularly with the powerless administration's top two figures — Mr. Trimble and the Catholic deputy leader, Social Democratic and Labour Party chief Mark Durkan — to promote continuity and keep government disruption to a minimum.

Monday's suspension of powers was the fourth ordered by Britain since Mr. Trimble's coalition took office in December 1999 following a U.S.-brokered compromise. Under that plan, Sinn Fein received two of the administration's 12 departments on condition that the IRA began to disarm.

Britain resumed sole control in February 2000 after disarmament officials confirmed that the IRA had yet to get rid of any weapons. Three months later, Britain switched power back to local hands after the IRA pledged to put its stockpiled weaponry "beyond use."

When no disarmament followed, however, Mr. Trimble resigned as government leader in July 2001 and vowed not to return until the IRA moved.

Britain used two short suspensions of power to extend the deadline for Trimble's re-election until the IRA secretly scrapped a few arms dumps in October 2001. But the belated IRA move did little to ease opposition to Mr. Trimble in the legislature, where Protestant hardliners came within a few votes of blocking his return to power.

Protestant hostility to Sinn Fein has swelled this year alongside mounting police allegations against the IRA, which is largely observing a 1997 ceasefire but remains active in the most hardline Catholic areas.

Among the accusations — all denied by the IRA — are that the outlawed group stole police documents detailing its informer network; keeps gathering intelligence and training for a potential end to its 1997 ceasefire; kills drug dealers and wounds criminal rivals in its Catholic power bases; and directs mob attacks on police.

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2002