Blair vows to keep MI5, police apart in N.Ireland

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) Britain vowed today that intelligence services and the police in Northern Ireland would be kept separate in future, a pledge it hopes will help pave the way for an historic power-sharing deal in the province.

Separating the spy agency MI5 from the workings of the police in Northern Ireland is a key condition set by nationalist party Sinn Fein for its support of policing.

Sinn Fein's backing for a legal system it views as biased in favour of pro-British unionists is required before its political opponent, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), will agree to share power in a Belfast-based assembly which London and Dublin hope will be operational by March 26.

''The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the security service will be completely distinct and entirely separate bodies,'' Blair said in a written statement to parliament.

''No police officers will be seconded to or under the control of the security service,'' he added.

Any interaction between the two bodies will be conducted through a liaison unit and the police will be solely responsible for civic policing with no role for MI5, which Sinn Fein has accused of colluding with Protestant paramilitaries and of running covert operations against it.

Sinn Fein yesterday raised fresh doubts about the assembly's restoration, saying it was reconsidering plans for a special conference on policing this month because of a lack of clarity from the DUP about the timetable for sharing power.

Blair's statement -- which followed talks with Sinn Fein preisdent Gerry Adams -- could help counteract those misgivings.

''We believe that that is a positive outcome from a very, very intensive engagement,'' Sinn Fein general secretary Mitchel McLaughlin said yesterday ahead of the anticipated statement.

The party's ruling council is due to meet at the weekend to discuss whether to hold the special conference on policing.

Sinn Fein, the political ally of the Irish Republican Army guerrilla group, is the main nationalist party in Northern Ireland and ultimately wants a united Ireland. Unionists are committed to retaining the province's close ties with London.

Blair, who would like to to conclude a Northern Ireland deal before leaving office this year, said the province's police ombudsman would be given access to ''sensitive information'' held by MI5 where necessary.

He added that Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, would be asked to review annually the new security arrangements in the British-run province.

REUTERS KD RN1823