WORLD IN BRIEF : NORTHERN IRELAND : Irish President Meets IRA Leader in Belfast

Irish President Mary Robinson met the leader of the IRA’s political wing during a controversial visit to West Belfast that infuriated the British government. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, the bearded revolutionary who backs the Irish Republican Army’s fight to oust Britain from Northern Ireland, greeted her in Irish and they shook hands briefly at their highly symbolic meeting. Robinson’s visit clearly annoyed the British government. The Northern Ireland office in Belfast took the highly unusual step of issuing a statement saying Robinson was not an official guest and had not been invited by Britain.