US congressman Mr Peter King, who visited the North yesterday for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in South Armagh in the wake of the ceasefires, said the level of British army activity was "totally unacceptable".
He said "the level of military activity seems much higher now than before the IRA ceasefire, which is counter-productive to the peace process".
Mr King said he felt the Taoiseach and the Government were doing as much as possible to further the peace process, but he believed mistakes were made in that undue pressures were exerted on Sinn Fein which were unhelpful, as there could be "no real peace process without full participation by Sinn Fein".