Washington slams door shut on Sinn Fein

Leaders of the Irish Republican Army's political wing head to Saint Patrick's Day events in the United States this week battered by a furor over IRA crime, shut out of talks in Washington and banned from its annual fundraising drive among Irish-Americans. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who is now in New York, has been omitted from official events hosted by US President George W. Bush and denied a meeting with the powerful Irish-American senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy.
Washington has now also banned Sinn Fein from fundraising during its annual pilgrimage this week to the United States, according to reports.
Celebrations around St Patrick's Day - held every March 17 in honour of Ireland's patron saint - have traditionally been used to rally support among Irish-Americans who are major contributors to the party coffers.
But this year, according to Britain's Times newspaper, US State Department officials say it would be "unacceptable" for Sinn Fein to go seeking cash.
The cold shoulder tactics in Washington come amid outrage over a series of crimes, notably the murder of a Catholic father-of-two in Belfast, blamed on the IRA.
The family of Robert McCartney, stabbed to death outside a pub on January 30, has blamed IRA members for the killing and waged a public campaign to have them tried in court.
It has also accused the IRA of intimidation, since none of the dozens of people at the pub have come forward as witnesses.
The IRA has also been blamed by the British and Irish governments of being responsible for a spectacular bank raid in Belfast in December that netted 26.5 million pounds (38.6 million euros, 50.5 million dollars), just at a time when Sinn Fein was in negotiations over joining a power-sharing government for the province.
Bush has refused to meet Adams, but has invited McCartney's five sisters and his companion to the White House for a St Patrick's Day reception.
Kennedy's spokeswoman, announcing the senator was shelving the meeting with Adams - held every St Patrick's Day since the Good Friday peace deal in 1998 - put the responsibility firmly on Sinn Fein to help stem IRA crime.
McCartney's death, she said, underscored "the need for IRA violence and criminality to stop and for Sinn Fein to co-operate with police."
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein's strongest supporter in the Senate, Republican Peter King, reportedly called on the IRA to disband, saying it was standing in the way of a peace pact between Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestants.