BELFAST The face of the IRA's political wing, Gerry Adams, has been warned by police of a threat on his life by hardliners within his own movement, his supporters said Tuesday. A Sinn Fein spokesman said police warned Adams, the party's leader, last week that his life could be in danger from dissident pro-United Ireland Republicans opposed to his leadership and to last year's April peace deal.

Adams' lawyer Bara McGrory added: I was advised by someone of a senior rank in the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) of information of a perceived threat to Mr. Adams from an alleged Republican source. Sinn Fein said it was taking the threats against Adams seriously. The spokesman said: We were informed last week that a threat to Gerry's life had been made and came from a Republican source.

And while we would be skeptical of anything the RUC tells us, we are nonetheless taking it seriously. The RUC said it could not comment on an individual case but a spokesman said where it was believed there could be a threat to any individual, the force had a clear obligation to inform and where necessary offer advice. It has not been confirmed who had threatened Adams, but there are a number of operational breakaway IRA groups in Northern Ireland, of which the formation of the Real IRA, which killed 29 people with last year's Omagh bombing, is but the most lethal example.

The threat, if real, highlights the tensions within the Republican Movement over the peace deal, which gave the Irish government a say in the North's affairs for the first time but fell short of the ultimate goal of a united Ireland. By signing up for the deal Adams at least temporarily accepted the right of Northern Ireland to exist as a political entity within Britain. Republicans have fought against British rule in Northern Ireland since the creation of the province in 1921. (AFP)