TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President United States of America Joe Biden welcomed in Northern Ireland by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. He is making a brief visit to mark the 25th anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed.
Biden, who is of Irish descent, will spend just over half a day in the British administered territory before traveling to the Republic of Ireland for nearly three days. There he will meet dignitaries and distant relatives.
Biden spoke for several minutes to officials on the runway. He is flanked by Joseph Kennedy III, from the prominent Irish-American political family, who was appointed US special envoy to Northern Ireland on economic affairs in December.
Biden and Sunak will have a meeting Wednesday morning. Biden will also engage with each of the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties ahead of his speech at a Belfast university.
Before Biden arrived, police in Northern Ireland found four pipe bombs. According to police on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, four pipe bombs were found in a cemetery near the city of Londonderry after a public safety operation.
The discovery came hours before US President Joe Biden was due to arrive in Belfast, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Londonderry. On Monday, police said masked men attacked a police vehicle with Molotov cocktails and other objects at the parade. The protesters were against the Good Friday peace deal in Londonderry. Molotov cocktail devices were found in an area linked to the parade, according to police.
“The discovery of this device is an even more chilling and worrying development,” Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said in a statement.
Biden arrived in Belfast on Tuesday night to mark the 25th anniversary of Northern Ireland being free from difficult politics and the peace deal that cost most people in 30 years. Pipe bombs are crude improvised explosive devices used in the past by militants in Northern Ireland. Often they are only the size of a hand grenade. Pipe bombs are made by filling a section of pipe with explosives.
Police say operations at the cemetery have now been completed. Police officers have left the scene. “Colleagues from the Terrorism Investigation Unit will now lead this investigation,” Singleton said.
In March, Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency raised the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to severe. This means an attack is highly likely.
REUTERS
