The DUP has accused President Clinton of acting in an undemocratic manner after it was excluded from individual talks he held with political parties at Stormont yesterday. The President met the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Sinn Fein privately.
However, the DUP - which is the third largest party in the North - had to make do with a brief discussion with him when he met all Assembly members in public in Stormont's Great Hall.
DUP deputy leader Mr Peter Robinson said: "We have more councillors, more Assembly members and more MPs than Sinn Fein, yet President Clinton invited Sinn Fein to talks but not us.
"The DUP speaks for the majority of unionists in Northern Ireland. He should have met us regardless of whether or not he agrees with our political viewpoint. This is meant to be an inclusive process but obviously it is not."
The DUP said it was angry that the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, had also refused to hold private talks with it yesterday. Mr Robinson said: "We threatened legal action against the Prime Minister.
"Under Section 76 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, it is illegal for any Minister of the Crown to discriminate against an individual or group on the basis of their religious or political beliefs.
"We told Mr Blair this and he has agreed to meet us before Christmas." The anti-agreement Northern Ireland Unionist Party handed a letter of protest to the President when it met him in the Great Hall.
It criticised "the lack of political integrity in the involvement of your administration in the politics of Northern Ireland". NIUP leader Mr Cedric Wilson said: "The President got quite angry when I suggested that his administration had been quite soft in relation to terrorism and that they had attempted to cover up the fact that far from disarming, the IRA were actually re-arming."
The DUP policing spokesman, Mr Ian Paisley Jnr, said the party had pressed the President on a number of issues, including the lack of progress on disarmament. He said Mr Clinton promised to raise their concerns during his talks.
Mr Paisley told the President it was essential he addressed the vacuum created by the lack of support from nationalists for the police.