Clinton and Blair ‘taken aback’ that decommissioning would miss GFA deadline
Bill Clinton was “taken aback” during a phone call with Tony Blair in which he conveyed that decommissioning would not take place by the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) deadline.
The aim had been to make some progress on IRA decommissioning by February 2000 if possible, when a key Ulster Unionist council meeting was due to take place amid pressure on first minister David Trimble’s leadership.
The US-UK phone call was made a day met Mr Clinton at the , where the US President had a “circular row” with Mr Adams over the pace of disabling arsenal.
