SENATOR Edward Kennedy has condemned the IRA attack on the RUC officer in a Belfast hospital and has also called on the loyalists to preserve their ceasefire.
He said he was "concerned" by the car bomb that injured an individual. It would be a "deeply disturbing development" if this were the work of loyalist paramilitaries.
Saying he was "saddened and concerned" by the attacks in Northern Ireland over the weekend, Senator Kennedy, appealed to paramilitaries on both sides "the show restraint". He said that only a complete restoration of the IRA ceasefire leading to fully inclusive talks will bring the lasting peace and just settlement that the people desire and deserve".
A spokesman for the US State Department yesterday called for calm following the latest attacks in Northern Ireland. "We ... urge all sides to show restraint and to given the peace process a chance to succeed," US State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said at a press briefing.
"Any further violence could complicate" talks on the future of Ulster that are set to begin in the middle of next month, he said. The United States condemns "in the strongest terms" the two most recent attacks, Davies said.