The World : 2 Ulster Prisoners Fasting

The second of 26 Irish republican prisoners threatening to “fast until death” over their convictions on an informer’s testimony began his hunger strike in Northern Ireland’s Maze prison, the British government said. Gerard Steenson, 28, began his fast on schedule by refusing breakfast in the prison, near Belfast, seven days after Robert Tohill, 26, began the mass hunger strike. The 24 other republicans convicted of guerrilla crimes last week are due to join the fast at one-week intervals. Steenson and Tohill were both convicted of murder. All 26 are members of the Irish National Liberation Army, a splinter group of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, which seeks an end to British rule in Ulster.