Speculation mounts over IRA move

David Trimble plans to withdraw his ministers from Stormont

A senior Sinn Fein source has said that intensive negotiations are taking place to secure a deal aimed at saving the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He said such a deal would require new moves by the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and by the British Government.

The source said it could lead to a ground-breaking move by the IRA on the arms issue.

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

The source said "delicate talks" were taking place to try to break the deadlock.

However, a spokesman for Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said "verifiable decommissioning" was needed to save the devolved administration.

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BBC Northern Ireland's political correspondent Mark Simpson said: "According to the Sinn Fein source, if this new context was created, movement from the IRA was possible on the arms issue.

"Indeed what is being talked about is an act greater in its significance than the IRA ceasefire itself. The source said that no final decisions had been made by the IRA, and no IRA convention had been called."

The negotiations are at a crucial stage and involve London, Dublin and Washington.

Arms are a major stumbling block

The Sinn Fein source described the talks as a "work in progress" with no guarantee of success.

In a statement from a spokesman for party leader David Trimble, the UUP said that the resignation of party ministers was not an excuse for the IRA not to decommission.

It said that the UUP leadership had made clear that decommissioning could prevent the resignations.

"It has also been been made clear that if resignations take place and the process of decommissioning begins afterwards, our ministers can be re-appointed immediately," it said.

"It is over three and a half years since the signing of the Belfast Agreement. No-one is prepared to listen to any more excuses from the IRA.

The spokesman added: "They must honour the commitments they have made."

Sean Farren of the nationalist SDLP said the IRA was now under a "moral and a political obligation" to disarm.

Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, he said: "Do the IRA and Sinn Fein not see that the minimalist and reluctant approach to decommissioning they have so far adopted is seriously undermining pro-Agreement unionist confidence in the Provisionals' commitment to the Agreement."

Earlier, Mr Trimble said Ulster Unionist ministers would resign from Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive "fairly soon" in the absence of IRA decommissioning.

He 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.

A resignation letter on behalf of the Ulster Unionist ministers at Stormont is expected to be handed in on Thursday.

The exact details of the resignations are unclear.

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 was introduced to the House of Lords on Wednesday as Lord Kilclooney, said ministers would withdraw from the government "in a matter of days".

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.

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.