Democratic Unionist leader Rev Ian Paisley has accused the UUP’s Mr David Trimble of treachery over his decision to reenter the Northern Ireland Assembly in the wake of IRA weapons decommissioning.
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Reverend Ian Paisley
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Mr Paisley claimed he saw "not a shred of evidence" that IRA disarmament has taken place during a meeting today with General John de Chastelain, head of the decommissioning commission.
He said the general was unable to tell him where the act had taken place, how many weapons were involved and whether it was part of a process of disarmament.
"The answers tonight illustrate how far, in an act of treachery to the law-abiding citizens, David Trimble is prepared to go to keep the charade of the Assembly in place," he said.
Mr Paisley contrasted the secrecy of IRA disarmament with the highly public dismantling of military installations.
"Today, the Army had to publicly take down their own armaments for the defence and safety of Ulster people," he said.
"And what have we? We are told now that the British Government and Mr Trimble will settle for a secret place, we don't know where it was, and for a number of arms, we don't know how many," he added.
Earlier today the DUP named its two new ministers to serve in the Executive. Mr Peter Robinson and Mr Nigel Dodds will replace Mr Gregory Campbell and Mr Maurice Morrow, who resigned last week after the UUP walked out of the Executive over the failure of the IRA to disarm.
A DUP source said the ministers were only returning to prevent the positions being taken up by other parties.
The DUP decision comes after Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble reinstated his three ministers - Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey, Culture Minister Mr Michael McGimpsey and Environment Minister Mr Sam Foster - in response to the IRA move.
It appears likely Mr Trimble will face serious difficulty in being re-elected when the Assembly meets next week to select a First and Deputy First Minister.
Today a member of one of the smaller unionist parties called for an all-out effort to thwart him.
Mr Cedric Wilson, leader of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party, which has three Assembly members, has written to other anti-Agreement parties calling for a united approach to vote him down.
If he is to be re-elected Mr Trimble will require the support of a majority of unionists in the Assembly.
He can achieve this if he can persuade anti-Agreement members from his own party to vote for him. The leading rebel, North Down MLA Mr Peter Weir, has not yet indicated which way he will vote.
Lagan Valley MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, a hardline critic of the Belfast Agreement, said his party's return to the Executive should be conditional on the IRA making clear its intention to proceed to full disarmament by February next year.
"We do need to know if this is an ongoing process leading to the completion of decommissioning within the timetable laid down by the Government," he said.
PA