Sinn Fein has confirmed that its senior negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, has had several meetings with the international arms decommissioning body, but has denied that he has agreed to act as an intermediary for the Provisional IRA.
A party spokesman said several meetings had taken place between Mr McGuinness and the chairman of the decommissioning body, Gen John de Chastelain. But he added that the Mid-Ulster MP had not agreed to act as a facilitator between the Provisional IRA army council and Gen de Chastelain.
However, other republican sources said the meetings were a signal that an arms handover was possible. "Of course, Martin was talking about decommissioning. Why else would he have been there?" one source said.
It was reported at the weekend that an announcement from the Provisional IRA that the war was over could be imminent. The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, has been under pressure from his Assembly members to bar Sinn Fein from the new power-sharing executive until such a statement is made and some arms are decommissioned.
The Sinn Fein spokesman yesterday said he knew of no plans for such an announcement. However, other republican sources said work was going on behind the scenes to find a form of words acceptable to both Provisional republican grassroots and Mr Trimble.
Meanwhile, the `Real IRA' has still not issued a statement outlining its intentions regarding continuing its campaign. The paramilitary group suspended attacks following the Omagh bombing but is understood to be divided about calling a permanent ceasefire, with a section strongly opposed to any end to violence.
The Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill, 1998, which is aimed at destroying the group, will be published by the government today. In a statement, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, which security sources say is the `Real IRA's' political wing, condemned the new legal measures.
"The proposed cross-Border repression laws, the first all-Ireland fruits of the Stormont deal, have confirmed republican claims that the Stormont deal would be a transition to a remodelled partition rather than to a united Ireland," Mr Enda O'Riordan, a spokesman for the movement said.
He claimed the new laws would "make republicans see the Stormont deal for what it is and inspire political resistance". It was disclosed at the weekend that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, met Mr McGuinness and the Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, at the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana, Co Donegal, after the funerals of the three local schoolboys killed in the Omagh bombing.
A Government spokesman last night said much work was going on behind the scenes to strengthen the peace process, but refused to comment further. There was speculation that the two governments and the White House were attempting to arrange a historic handshake between Mr Trimble and Mr Gerry Adams for President Clinton's visit to Belfast later this week.
The President is due to visit the new Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont Castle on Thursday morning. Both Mr Trimble and Mr Adams are expected to be present.
Ireland On Sunday said there was "guarded optimism" in the US that a handshake between the two men could take place. It claimed that the public revulsion and sense of determination to make the peace process work might give both men the leeway to "take risks for peace".
However, both Sinn Fein and UUP sources have played down the likelihood of a handshake. "It will happen some time but I don't think it will be before Thursday," a Sinn Fein spokesman said. A UUP source said it was "highly unlikely" given that unionist grassroots feeling had hardened since the Omagh bombing.
Many UUP Assembly-members who had been fence-sitting regarding the agreement were now putting pressure on Mr Trimble not to make any concessions to Sinn Fein, the source said. The UUP position on Sinn Fein's entry into talks appears to have hardened in recent days.
A senior negotiator, Mr Reg Empey, who is regarded as a moderate, said that the decommissioning of IRA arms would not be enough to gain Sinn Fein entry into the power-sharing executive.
Punishment beatings, training and targeting would also have to stop, he said. What was required was "a package across the board" to end violence.
The Orange Order is seeking a meeting with Mr Clinton during his visit.
Senior members of the institution will make an official request today at the office of the US Consulate in Belfast.