Hume to step down as SDLP leader

Hume announces his decision at Stourmont

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume is to step down as leader of Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Announcing his decision on Monday, Hume appealed to feuding parties to keep the 1998 Good Friday peace accord alive.

"In recent years I have had serious health problems, and it is now necessary for me to cut down on my workload," said Hume, 64, who said he would resign in November.

He will remain as an MP in both the European and British parliaments

He stood down from the Northern Ireland Assembly last year due to a heavy workload and concerns about his health.

Speculation that Hume would retire had circulated since 1997, when he reluctantly turned down a chance to run as president of the neighbouring Republic of Ireland.

Last year he had four operations for a ruptured intestine.

Hume has been leader of the SDLP since 1979. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 1979 and the MP for Foyle, which comprises the city of Londonderry since 1983.

The veteran nationalist politician, who first came to prominence in the 1960s as a leader of the Catholic civil rights movement, is credited with having kickstarted the peace process through talks in 1988 with Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1998 alongside Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement earlier that year.

Surrounded by his party's Assembly team at Stormont, Hume said last week's terror attacks in the United States should animate local efforts to keep the Northern Ireland peace accord on track.

"In recent days the world has seen the destructive force of violence and its terrible effect on human life," he said.

"Here in Northern Ireland we have reached an agreement which points a way forward, to a new society where diversity is respected."

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair led the tributes to Hume's efforts in building peace in Northern Ireland.

He said: "John Hume has played a huge role over many years in the Northern Ireland peace process and in helping to take the gun out of Irish politics.

"His vision was instrumental in establishing the process that has led to the Good Friday Agreement and I would personally like to thank him for his tireless efforts to realise that vision."

Trimble said: "While we have approached the problem facing Northern Ireland from different perspectives, I have never doubted the sincerity of John's ceaseless efforts to find an agreed resolution.

"At all times, John's voice had been heard because it was never tainted by any covert regard for violence."

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern called John Hume "a true Irish hero," and greeted his decision to quit as leader of the SDLP "with a sense of sadness -- but also of immense gratitude for his magnificent public service."

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said: "During the course of the peace process, John and I developed a special friendship for the work we did together in laying the foundations for that process and all that stems from it.

"Undoubtedly John Hume's finest hour came in laying the foundations for the Good Friday Agreement."