N Ireland leaders clinch power-sharing deal

"Yes, we have a deal" on restoring Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions, a source close to the leadership of Northern Ireland's largest Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, told AFP at the end of talks Monday.

"There is agreement on how this is going to work its way out," said a source close to Sinn Fein -- the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the most powerful Catholic paramilitary organisation.

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Any deal on elections, which have been pushed back twice this year, is believed to include a third act of disarmament, known as decommissioning, by the IRA.

The head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, General John de Chastelain, is believed to have renewed contact with Sinn Fein and is expected to produce a report on Tuesday confirming a move from the IRA on weapons.

In a carefully choreographed set of proceedings, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce early Tuesday that Northern Ireland elections will be held on November 26 before leaving for the province to join his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern.

Then Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is expected to announce in his own terms that the IRA's armed struggle has come to an end, before de Chastelain publishes his weapons report.

An IRA statement is then expected to confirm Adams's earlier statement before an announcement by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble.

Finally, Blair and Ahern are expected to seal the agreement with a joint statement at a press conference at Hillsborough Castle, the official residence of Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy.

A British government source would not confirm late Monday that a deal had been struck, simply stating that it was "a critical time for the (peace) process".