Defense Secretary Malcom Rifkind rejected demands by the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein, that it pull some of its 18,000 troops out of the province because of cease-fires by the IRA and its Protestant "Loyalist" guerrilla rivals.
Rifkind's statement was the latest rebuff for Sinn Fein, which is under pressure from hardline IRA activists to win some concessions on the troops' presence to match its cease-fire gesture.
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