Public SnubNot
quite the same as keeping him out of the country, but I'd call this significant and blunt and dead on the money.
President Bush has personally ordered that Gerry Adams is refused entry to official engagements during his visit to the US, a senior presidential adviser said last night. The snub emerged as the Orange Order announced yesterday it was to sever its 100-year-old links with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
The US President apparently decided to give Mr Adams the cold shoulder for this year's St Patrick's Day celebrations after Mr Bush learnt that the Sinn Fein leader betrayed his efforts last year to help to restart the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mr Bush has also denied Mr Adams the chance to raise cash for his party while in the US by refusing him the category of visa which permits fundraising.
According to the Bush aide, Mr Adams has lost favour. "At the White House, Adams is now regarded with the same sort of disdain as Arafat. The President no longer considers Mr Adams a reliable partner for peace. He doesn't want to meet him," the Bush aide told The Sunday Telegraph.
