CNN INTERNATIONAL -- WORLD NEWS 3/17/00 ARRESTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: And as we reported earlier, Northern Ireland's leading politicians are arriving in Washington for conferences with the White House and the U.S. Congress. The meetings are aimed at breaking the stalemate over decommissioning that has stalled the peace process. And we now have that report from John Irvine.</s>JOHN IRVINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bomb intercepted by the police was made up of 500 pounds of homemade explosives, enough for a devastating attack, the dissident group which made it used half as much material to kill 29 people in the Omagh bombing nearly two years ago. After that, the real IRA called a cease-fire. It now seems that cessation is over.</s>KEN HENNING, ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY: Five hundred pounds of explosives. That's a considerable device and would have caused considerable damage.</s>IRVINE: The bomb was in one of two cars stopped on a main road heading north for Belfast. Three men were detained. One is a convicted terrorist who was freed from jail early under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He's among the several hundred prisoners who have benefited from that scheme. He was released last summer after serving less than two months of a five-year sentence.</s>ROBERT MCCARTNEY, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: There is something absolutely sick about a government and a society that turns morality, the rule of law, and decency on its head. It has got to stop.</s>IRVINE (on camera): In a separate development today, it was announced that 500 soldiers are to be withdrawn from Northern Ireland. That will bring troop levels in the province to below the 14,000 mark for the first time in years. The RUC chief constable said the reduction reflected the overall security situation. He added that if needs be, the soldiers could be brought back within hours. John Irvin, ITN, Belfast.
Northern Ireland Politicians In Washington Aim To Restart Stalled  Peace Talks