Belfast, Northern Ireland — Dashing expectations of a breakthrough, Britain and Ireland withheld their new Northern Ireland peace plans Thursday after failing to get long-sought commitments from the Irish Republican Army, government aides said.
Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams, a reputed IRA chief, insisted the outlawed group was not responsible for the deadlock.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, greets his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern. The two met Thursday in London.
Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-brokered Good Friday accord, was the two governments' target date for announcing the new plans.
Adams, whose party is linked with the IRA, demanded that Britain and Ireland "leave the IRA out" of current arguments and immediately publish the full text of their plans, which have been in the works since October and widely leaked.
They include guarantees of freedom for IRA fugitives, British military cutbacks, justice reforms and other moves designed to entice the IRA into resuming disarmament and abandoning all hostile activities.
The prime ministers canceled Thursday's event because the proposed text of an IRA statement was politically inadequate, a British government official said on condition of anonymity.
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