President Bush declared he is "100 per cent" behind the McCartney sisters' campaign for justice for their murdered brother.

The American leader was speaking after meeting the family at the White House - one of a series of events for the sisters in Washington yesterday.

Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, was also in Washington but for the first time in seven years was not invited to the presidential party.

Earlier, in a joint appearance with the president, Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, said: "The political inclusion envisaged by the [Belfast] agreement can only be realised when those who aspire to share in government have brought closure to paramilitary activity, including all forms of criminality."