AS speculation continues about Senator George Mitchell's role in attempts to revive the peace process, Downing Street has again discounted a possible role as mediator for the chairman of the decommissioning body.
Senator Mitchell, meanwhile, has said the re establishment of the international body at some time in the future would be a matter for the British and Irish governments to decide.
Senator Mitchell will meet the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, at Number 10 this morning. Despite all denials, some senior politicians at Westminster believe his presence to be highly significant as the British and Irish governments desperately seek the reinstatement of the IRA ceasefire.
Senator Mitchell's trip on Bosnian related business was arranged before the collapse of the ceasefire. At a press conference for the International Crisis Group in London yesterday, he insisted he had not come in any sense as a US envoy or mediator. He said he had received no request from either the British or the Irish government to assume a role, nor was he volunteering himself for one.
He went out of his way to deny a report in Wednesday's New York Times - that he was travelling to London and Dublin to "salvage" the process and get President Clinton out of a domestic difficulty - as "inaccurate and misleading".
Sources last night said the former senator had been acutely embarrassed by that report and had suggested cancelling or postponing his meeting with Mr Major if the British government had been embarrassed by it.
Asked yesterday if he came with fresh ideas for London and Dublin, Senator Mitchell said he did not think that was America's role. The administration, he said, would provide assistance to the British and Irish governments if, when and where it was requested.
In a superb display of the diplomatic skills which have earned him such respect in Dublin and London, Senator Mitchell fielded all attempts to embroil him in the controversies surrounding his report and the collapse of the ceasefire.
He told the press conference: "I was surprised to see reports and analyses suggesting that the Prime Minister rejected our report. Thai simply wasn't the case.
When pressed about the alacrity with which Mr Major had embraced his brief reference to an elective process, Senator Mitchell said the brevity of the reference reflected not on the importance of the issue, but simply on the fact that it was not within the body's remit. He said it clearly was important, not least because it had been raised by the largest party in Northern Ireland.
Asked about the IRA decision, Senator Mitchell said: "I support and share the view expressed by President Clinton strongly condemning the bombing."