The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, has urged the IRA to make a token gesture on weapons to help resolve the impasse over decommissioning. Mr Hume issued the appeal after yesterday's meeting at Stormont between the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, and the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, failed to reach an accommodation.
Mr Hume appealed to the IRA to hand in some Semtex to help the transition to the formation of an executive at Stormont.
Speaking after a 50-minute meeting between his party and Gen John de Chastelain, the head of the decommissioning body, he said: "Obviously, we understand the psychology of all this, but we think that, as we have said repeatedly, a gesture would be very helpful, particularly in the Semtex field." Mr Hume said the SDLP delegation put forward a suggestion to Gen de Chastelain which could resolve the decommissioning impasse.
"We spelt out very clearly that if a load of Semtex was left on a hillside, and Gen de Chastelain was told where it was, that would obviously be very helpful. That's the suggestion we have made," said Mr Hume.
But Mr Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein Mid Ulster MP, who was part of his party's delegation which also met Gen de Chastelain, insisted that the IRA could not deliver decommissioning ahead of the formation of the executive. He said it was impossible to get the IRA "to do anything in relation to a gesture" given the "messing about" of the past 10 months. "The Sinn Fein project from the very beginning [of the peace process] is about removing the causes of the conflict, it is about removing all of the guns, British and Irish, from Irish politics."
Hopes of a breakthrough diminished further when Mr Trimble and Mr Adams emerged from an hour-long meeting at Stormont, each blaming the other for not being willing to move forward on the issues of decommissioning and the formation of the executive.
The meeting, the first since their discussions in Washington last week, took place against the backdrop of parties meeting Gen de Chastelain.
Mr Adams said he could not detect any willingness from the Ulster Unionists to move from their position on disarmament before the formation of a power-sharing executive. "I have to say, on the basis of our most recent discussions, that Mr Trimble does not want to know anything other than the absolutist position adopted by himself or his party."
Mr Adams said Mr Trimble had turned down his request for a round-table discussion with all the parties, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Gen de Chastelain.
Mr Trimble countered that it was apparent from their discussions that it was not a case of republicans not being able to deliver a handover of weapons but rather that they would not do it.
Mr Trimble said that all he had heard all afternoon was a reiteration of what the IRA would not do. "Unfortunately I have to say that after our meeting this afternoon with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, the hopeful sign that some of us had detected in Washington when Mr Adams said he was prepared to stretch the republican constituency hasn't been followed through today."
Meanwhile, the Alliance Party leader, Mr Sean Neeson, said he was prepared to meet republican and loyalist leaders if their political representatives were unable to find a solution to resolve the impasse in an attempt to "create a formula to overcome this final crucial hurdle for the transfer of powers".
"I still believe that the general and his colleagues have a pivotal role to play in moving the peace process forward. However, like most people I am becoming frustrated at the lack of movement to ensure that devolution is transferred to the Assembly next week," Mr Neeson added.