N. Ireland meeting ends, no word on power-sharing

BELFAST - Northern Ireland's biggest pro-British Protestant grouping ended a meeting on Saturday, but it was unclear if it had made progress towards reaching a power-sharing deal by a Tuesday deadline.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has told Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) as well as the nationalist Sinn Fein they must start jointly running the British province's day-to-day affairs on Monday or accept indefinite direct rule from London.


Some of Paisley's followers want more time to prepare and are looking to delay full power-sharing by about eight weeks, another pro-British party said.

- REUTERS