Gerry Adams and Fidel Castro: Due to meet again
The American ambassador to the UK, William
Farish, has criticised Sinn Fein president Gerry
Adams' three-day visit to Cuba.
Mr Farish was attending a Christmas gala
event at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on
Tuesday night where he delivered a message
of peace from US President George W Bush.
But speaking to reporters before the event, he
described the Cuban trip by Sinn Fein as
"unhelpful".
Mr Farish said: "If you combine Colombia and
September 11 and now the visit to Cuba, it
certainly isn't a positive thing.
"But we are looking at
the big picture and
looking forward.
"I think there have
been things that Sinn
Fein have done
recently which have
been very positive and
that it what we are
after."
Delivering the message
from President Bush, Mr
Farish said the people of Northern Ireland were
a "beacon of hope" for divided societies across
the world.
In the message, President Bush said Northern
Ireland could be "justly proud" of its progress
towards peace.
The US leader also said his country would
stand "shoulder to shoulder" with the people of
Northern Ireland "just as you have supported
us with your friendship and solidarity through
our difficulties this past year".
Meetings
Mr Adams has held a series of talks with the
Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, during the
controversial visit, which has also attracted
criticism from Republican congressmen in the
USA, including Peter King.
But Mr Adams, who is being accompanied by
North Belfast assembly member Gerry Kelly,
said he did not believe the trip would cause
lasting damage to relationships with his party's
United States supporters.
The Sinn Fein president and Fidel Castro had
discussions on Tuesday and met again on
Wednesday morning.
Mr Adams said on BBC Radio Ulster on
Wednesday that they discussed "the Irish
peace process, globalisation, third world debt
and the Cuban health programme, which is
very impressive".
Later on the final day of his visit, Mr Adams is
due to meet the Cuban minister for foreign
affairs Felipe Perez Roque as well as visiting a
paediatric hospital.
Peace process address
The Sinn Fein president delayed the trip
following controversy surrounding the arrest of
three Irishmen in Colombia.
It emerged that one of the three Niall
Connolly- who is still being held on charges of
training Marxist Farc guerrillas in explosives and
urban terrorism - had been a Sinn Fein
representative in Cuba.
On Tuesday, Mr Adams said in a speech that
the Northern Ireland peace process could only
be safeguarded with changes to society to
ensure a level playing field.
Speaking in Havana, Mr Adams reaffirmed his
commitment to the Irish republican target of a
united Ireland.
But he also dwelt on issues closer to home for
his audience, with a call for an end to the
United States' trading embargo against Cuba
and criticism of International Monetary Fund
and World Bank policies towards South
American and Caribbean nations' debt.
He went on to say any peace process -
whether in Ireland, the Middle East or Latin
America - had to have a way of solving
problems democratically on the basis of
equality and understanding at its core.
