Brown says killings will not stop N.Irish progress

By Anne Cadwallader

ANTRIM, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday the killing of two soldiers by gunmen opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process would not drag the British-ruled province back into violence.

There are no plans to put troops back onto the streets of Northern Ireland, a senior British army officer said, as leaders tried to ensure that the deadliest attack in a decade did not reverse progress made since the Good Friday peace deal in 1998.

Brown visited the army base in Antrim where gunmen from the Real IRA republican splinter group killed the soldiers, hours before they were due to fly to Afghanistan. The prime minister then held talks with political leaders in Belfast.

"They want to send out the message to the world, as I do, that the political process will not and can never be shaken," Brown said.

The IRA, which fought British rule for decades and drew support from the minority Roman Catholic community, and pro-British Protestant guerrilla groups agreed to ceasefires under the 1998 deal.

The agreement helped to greatly reduce sectarian violence, which had killed more than 3,600 people in Northern Ireland since the late 1960s.

The Real IRA wants an end to British rule and a united Ireland, but is shunned by the province's politicians who have put aside years of enmity to work together in a devolved national assembly.

The Real IRA carried out the deadliest single bombing of the sectarian violence, in the market town of Omagh in August 1998. Twenty-nine people were killed.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward described Saturday's attack as a "pre-meditated attempt at mass murder," saying two masked gunmen had fired more than 60 shots.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said police south of the border would join the hunt for the gunmen.

"Despite the success of the peace process in recent years there has been no reduction in the monitoring by the gardai (police) of dissident Republican activity," he told reporters.

BACKLASH FEARED

While security experts question how capable the Real IRA is of launching a campaign of violence, there are fears the killings could spark a backlash from pro-British guerrillas.

"This here could kick it off again," said John Stevenson, 47, a Protestant father of three, who works for a taxi company in the town of Lisburn.

Stevenson showed Reuters a text message which had been circulating among the Protestant community.