Alliance urges political leaders not to rush to judgement

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 4th Oct 2002

Alliance Leader David Ford has urged political leaders not to take action that could have serious consequences for the peace process based on less than full information following PSNI raids on a number of houses and Sinn Fein's offices at Stormont.

Mr Ford stated: "While this is a worrying development with the potential for serious political consequences, it is important that politicians do not rush to judgment before more information becomes available.

"It is obviously concerning that the police felt they had sufficient information to raid an office within our Assembly, but I would caution against anyone jumping to conclusions, and taking pre-emptive action before even formal charges, if any, are laid against anyone.

"It would be very wrong to take decisions that could have dramatic and long-term

consequences for the peace process based on less than half the truth.

"Given the inevitable reaction to these raids, it is crucial that both the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State makes public statements on these developments as quickly as possible."