Focus on extremists is 'damaging Good Friday agreement'
The British government was accused today of damaging the Good Friday Agreement by focusing on extremist elements threatening the peace process.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan made the comments in the run up to key talks between the political parties and British and Irish governments to revive the devolved institutions.
He said Downing Street had pandered to the more extreme parties at the expense of the inclusive approach that had forged the original agreement of April 1998.
"We found ourselves in a situation where political posturing and a tug of war threatened the institutions and stalled the agreement," he said.
"The way the government managed that process was not the way we arrived at the agreement."
The parties are preparing to meet Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy and Foreign Minister Brian Cowen at parliament buildings in Stormont tomorrow for introductory talks aimed at breaking the political deadlock.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will lead further negotiations at Leeds Castle in Kent from September 16 to 18.
The institutions were suspended in October 2002 following allegations that the IRA operated a spy ring at the heart of the Northern Ireland Office.
Mr Durkan, referring to earlier negotiations, said the British government had focused on "problem parties", Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists.
"That flawed approach has done damage to the agreement. It hasn't just interrupted the process it has corrupted it."
The SDLP leader's comments in an interview with politics website e-Politix followed last week's visit by former US President Bill Clinton and conciliatory statements by Sinn Féin designed to increase confidence.
The Foyle MLA urged the IRA to move into a "disarmament" phase and back words with action.
"The logic of what Sinn Féin leaders are saying is that there is no republican reason for the IRA to exist, so I say why keep giving unionists an excuse?" he said.
"Language in itself is not enough. What we need is decisive movement and the IRA is in a position, and not before time, to make the moves they need for completion. I want them to move from the ceasefire to a disarmament situation."
Mr Durkan added that there needed to be "positive and decisive movement on the part of unionist leaders as well".
The man who replaced John Hume as leader of his party said that although experience had taught him not to expect too much from the forthcoming negotiations, he was being positive.
"We want things to move forward cohesively so there's no more of this incrementalism, fudge and side dealing," he added.
"We need to go back to working with the one deal that people endorsed which was the Good Friday agreement itself."
