Northern Ireland police released Gerry Adams from custody Sunday and the Sinn Fein leader sought to calm fears that his four-day detention could destabilize the British province by pledging his support to the peace process.
Police arrested Adams on Wednesday over the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, a killing he repeated that he was "innocent of any part" in. His detention had raised tensions among Northern Ireland's power-sharing government and its fragile peace.
After Sinn Fein pointed the finger at "dark forces" in the police service and their Protestant partners in government accused it of a "thuggish attempt" at blackmail, a calm Adams toned down the rhetoric and said he supported the police.