World IN BRIEF : IRELAND : Nominee Rejected Over Link to IRA

Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey withdrew his nomination for defense minister after allegations that the candidate, Jim McDaid, had links with a convicted Irish Republican Army gunman. The opposition Fine Gael party said McDaid gave written alibi evidence for James Clarke, who escaped from a Northern Ireland prison and was convicted in absentia for the attempted murder of a British soldier. McDaid denied the allegations, but his appointment provoked a storm of protest from some British Parliament members. As part of his Cabinet reshuffle, Haughey gave the key finance portfolio to Bertie Ahern, the former labor minister.