N. Ireland assembly deadline looms

The peace process is deadlocked over lack of progress on paramilitary disarmament

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Northern Ireland's coalition government is set for collapse unless a new leader is elected by midnight on Saturday.

Following the resignation of first minister David Trimble in July, the laws which created the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly demand it must be suspended and power handed back to London if it goes more than six weeks without a leader.

A cornerstone of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord to end 30 years of sectarian conflict, the Assembly now has less than a day left in which to start leadership elections, or face collapse.

Trimble quit as first minister in July in protest at the Irish Republican Army's failure to fully disarm. He has said he will not run for re-election unless the IRA starts handing over weapons.

Protestants have refused to nominate another leadership candidate unless the IRA starts to disarm.

In August, the coalition was suspended for 24 hours in order to allow another six weeks of negotiations aimed at finding a solution to the crisis. The new deadline for a leadership vote is midnight on Saturday.

Most observers are predicting that Britain will again suspend the coalition for 24 hours, to allow for a further six week period of negotiations.

UK secretary for Northern Ireland John Reid was expected to announce his verdict on Friday.

If Britain acts as expected, the new deadline would be November 3.

Trimble told The Associated Press news agency that his Protestant supporters wanted the assembly suspended, with London taking direct control of Northern Ireland for an indefinite period.

He ridiculed claims by the local media that the IRA might disarm soon if Trimble's party relented.

Trimble has twice formed governments with Sinn Fein, the republican political party, on the condition that the IRA begin to disarm.

Trimble's Ulster Unionist party complain that August's one-day suspension did not put enough pressure on the IRA and Sinn Fein to co-operate.

The IRA said on Wednesday it would resume talks with disarmament officials on the condition that the Ulster Unionists kept the assembly afloat.

Meanwhile Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams criticised both the Ulster Unionists and the Social Democratic and Labour party for agreeing to take part in new proposals for Northern Ireland's predominantly Protestant police force.

Britain had set Thursday as the deadline for each government party to decide whether it would support a cross-community board to reshape the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Sinn Fein confirmed it would refuse to take its place on the board, complaining that reforms did not offer sufficiently radical change, said AP.

Trimble condemned the proposals for the force as "gratuitously offensive," suggesting the only reason the Ulster Unionists were taking part was to limit the pace of the reforms, reported the news agency.