The Northern Ireland First Minister, Mr David Trimble, and the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, met again at Stormont's Parliament Buildings yesterday afternoon to discuss difficulties in the peace process.
The meeting between the Ulster Unionist and Sinn Fein leaders had been expected for some days but, unlike their first one-to-one encounter two weeks ago, the news media were not invited to cover the event.
It is understood Mr Trimble reiterated his stance that the Ulster Unionists would not participate in the Northern executive without the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
Sinn Fein described the half-hour private discussion as a "useful and serious" part of the "normalisation" process. But the party expressed concern at recent comments by Mr Trimble indicating that, in the absence of IRA decommissioning, the other parties in the Assembly could form an executive without it. These remarks were described by Sinn Fein as "a very serious development" and part of what it called "the old agenda".
In a statement issued before the meeting, Sinn Fein's Mr Gerry Kelly called on Mr Trimble to implement the Belfast Agreement speedily and "stop placating" those unionists who were trying to wreck it.
Meanwhile, there was mixed reaction to yesterday's announcement of a reduction in the number of British troops in the North. Sinn Fein gave the move a qualified welcome, but a leading Ulster Unionist said he hoped the decision was taken on security and not political grounds.
Overall troop levels are now lower than at any point during the 1994-96 IRA ceasefire. A British army spokesman said there were also significant reductions in patrol levels and helicopter flights.
The announcement was made by the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, who said the improving security situation allowed him "to operate increasingly widely across Northern Ireland with a reducing need for a military presence".
From this weekend, there will be no routine military patrolling in south Derry. The General Officer Commanding (Northern Ireland), Lieut Gen Sir Rupert Smith, is arranging for members of 39 Regiment (Royal Artillery) and 1st Battalion the Highlanders to return to their bases, in Newcastle and Catterick respectively, within two weeks. "The Chief Constable and the GOC are also reviewing the position in relation to bases within the province and hope to be in a position in the near future to initiate some scaling-down in this regard," the RUC statement said.
However, Mr Flanagan stressed that these battalions could be returned to the province immediately should circumstances warrant it.
A front-bench member of the Ulster Unionist Party in the Assembly, Mr Reg Empey, said: "Nobody wants to see troops on our streets a day or an hour longer than necessary. But I would remind people that the only reason we have troops on our streets is because some people decided they would use force to impose their political will on the people of Northern Ireland. So the sooner the violent organisations depart, the sooner the troops will go alongside them."
The Sinn Fein MP for Mid-Ulster, Mr Martin McGuinness, said the announcement was a positive step in the right direction. But he added: "It has to be remembered that the Good Friday agreement was signed five months ago and we are only now seeing such developments."
He said the British government should speed up the demilitarisation process, begin the dismantling of military installations and remove the RUC immediately from nationalist areas.
The GOC (Northern Ireland) has approximately 17,000 troops under his command, about 1,500 of whom are usually based in Britain, Germany or elsewhere. The troops now being removed, totalling about 300-350 in number, were on security duty outside the Maze Prison and in south Fermanagh and south Tyrone.
A British army spokesman said the departing troops would remain under the command of the GOC (Northern Ireland) and could be brought back if required. "There still is a threat, and we will continue to provide military support to the RUC as and when required."
The Irish Republican Socialist Party gave a "cautious welcome" to the troops announcement but added: "What the nationalist working-class community requires is the permanent dismantling of the British military machine in Ireland."