Unionists to quit 'within days'

David Trimble plans to withdraw his ministers from Stormont

Ulster Unionist ministers will resign from Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive "fairly soon" in the absence of IRA decommissioning, the party leader has said.

David Trimble was speaking ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State John Reid on Wednesday afternoon, amid behind-the-scenes moves to try to avoid the resignations.

The arms issue has been a major stumbling block to progress in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Ulster Unionist ministers are expected to pull out of the Stormont government later this week due to a lack of movement on arms, but Mr Trimble has refused to say exactly when this will happen.

Republicans

On his return from a four-day trip to the United States, Mr Trimble said: "It will happen fairly soon.

"Indeed I am seeing the secretary of state this afternoon and the discussion we will have, will centre around that," he said.

Earlier, senior Ulster Unionist John Taylor ,who will be introduced to the House of Lords later on Wednesday as Lord Kilclooney, said ministers would withdraw from the government "in a matter of days".

On Tuesday Mr Trimble said he hoped newspaper speculation predicting a start to IRA decommissioning would prove to be true.

He said he did not want to set republicans a deadline, but was keen to ensure that decommissioning happened, sooner rather than later.

The head of the Church of Ireland also appealed for the IRA to decommission.

The latest crisis in the peace process was precipitated by Mr Trimble's resignation as first minister in July, a move designed to put pressure on the republican movement.

He announced two weeks ago that he intended to bring the political crisis to a head by withdrawing the rest of the Ulster Unionist ministers because his party could no longer sit in the executive with Sinn Fein.

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The withdrawal of UUP ministers would lead to the collapse of the institutions.

It is expected, however, that Dr Reid would reintroduce direct rule before the assembly collapsed.

If devolution is suspended for an unlimited period, it is likely the government will start a review of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, on which devolution is based.