PRESIDENT Clinton yesterday discussed with Mr David Trimble the Unionist leader's proposals for elections in Northern Ireland as a prelude to all party talks, but, made it clear that he was not endorsing any specific plan.
While condemning IRA violence in strong terms, the White "House also declined to isolate Sinn Fein. Contacts with the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, will continue this week to try to get the ceasefire restored, a senior official said.
Mr Clinton promised before the meeting with Mr Trimble "We will do everything we can to try to get the process back on track. We're going to look at all the evidence. We're going to see what we know and what we can do."
The White House said last night that the President under scored to the Unionist Party leader "the need to re establish the ceasefire and press forward toward a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Northern Ireland."
They discussed with him "his proposal for an election in Northern Ireland and urged that this and other proposals be discussed urgently to move the situation forward", the White House said in a statement. It added "Those who resort to violence must not be allowed to set the agenda for the people of Northern Ireland."
In remarks before the meeting, Mr Clinton demanded an immediate end to the violence which he said most people in Northern Ireland desired. "They expect the people who are representing them to be disciplined and mature and peaceably work this out," he said.
Mr Trimble, accompanied by Mr Ken Magennis and the party secretary, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, had a working lunch with National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and his deputy Ms Nancy Soderberg, after which they were joined by Mr Clinton for more than 20 minutes.
"The position of the administration is that it wants to see movement towards serious talks, and it's willing to look at the various ideas people have," said Mr Trimble, who described the talks as serious and positive".
"We discussed with the President our ideas for an elected body," he said. "If Sinn Fein IRA had a credible ceasefire, then it, would lead to negotiations with them."
The UUP leader said he thought the President and Mr "Lake "appreciate the merits and value of an elected body as the way forward."
He acknowledged he had urged tlie White House to reimpose a visa and fund raising ban on Mr Adams. "It's absolutely essential that Sinn Fein IRA should not" gain any benefit from the resumption of violence," Mr Trimble remarked. "We think it's essential they should suffer political loss, suffer some political pain for what they have done."
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the administration was not reconsidering its approval of visas for Mr Adams or permission to raise funds.
Before the IRA bomb, the Sinn Fein leader was planning to return to the US for St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington.
Despite being pressed by White House correspondents, presidential spokesman Mike McCurry declined yesterday to criticise Mr Adam's failure to condemn the IRA bombing. The administration was using "every ounce of diplomatic effort to get the ceasefire back in place, and would not be commenting on the positions or statements of individual parties so as not to compromise US efforts to restore a process where all party talks are possible, he said.
Mr McCurry said contacts with Mr Adams and others since Friday were "very candid, very frank." He was an important leader in this process because he spoke for Sinn Fein.
The White House spokesman said "We also understand the very complex dynamic that all these leaders face as they take risks for peace. The best we can do is to encourage them to take risks, and for many those risks are considerable. That's true in the Middle East. It was certainly true in the case of Bosnia.
Peace in Northern Ireland was an important foreign policy objective "and there is no doubt we are disappointed in this outcome.