Ulster politician drops campaign, citing violence

A veteran member of Parliament pulled out of Northern Ireland's first assembly election in 10 years because he said ''there was no hope for normal politics'' in the war-torn region.

Gerry Fitt, the independent member of Parliament for west Belfast, announced his withdrawal Monday only hours after a terrorist bomb killed one British soldier and wounded two others. A splinter group of the outlawed Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility for the bomb.