Hand of peace: Queen, former IRA commander plan symbolic first meeting, but media kept out

The Associated Press

BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Queen Elizabeth II and a former Irish Republican Army commander are about to meet for the first time in a symbolic milestone for Northern Ireland's peace process, but journalists wanting to record the moment are being kept at bay.

British officials say only two photographers are being admitted to Wednesday's event featuring a handshake between the monarch and Martin McGuinness, whose Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein long has refused all contact with British royals. McGuinness is the senior Irish Catholic in Northern Ireland's 5-year-old unity government.

The queen is in Belfast as part of United Kingdom-wide celebrations of her 60th year on the throne. She is scheduled to see the city's Titanic exhibition and attend an open-air party involving 20,000 locals at Stormont, the hilltop base for the power-sharing government.