Arms row rumbles on

UNIONISTS and republicans traded political blows over arms decommissioning yesterday, David Trimble seeking to play up the issue, while Gerry Adams attempted to play it down.

The main parties also nominated candidates for the 25 June assembly elections; among Sinn Fein candidates are Mr Adams and Gerry Kelly, famed in republican circles for repeatedly breaking out of jail.

Mr Trimble sought to keep the weapons issue centre-stage, saying he had asked President Clinton to raise it with Mr Adams when they meet in Washington later this week. Mr Adams, speaking in New York at the start of a four- day US tour, "The most crucial thing is not some ritual of decommissioning but that the guns remain silent." - David McKittrick