Gerry Adams detained at checkpoint

Sinn Fein last night said soldiers had detained its president, Gerry Adams, and leading member Gerry Kelly at a vehicle checkpoint in County Down. The two had been "held and generally harassed" by members of the Royal Irish Regiment, the locally-recruited British army unit, near the town of Banbridge.

Security sources, who described the incident as "a non-story," said the two men had been briefly held, then sent on their way by police called to the scene. Sinn Fein said they had been travelling back to Belfast together after attending a party meeting. The RUC said officially that it was not their policy to discuss security matters.