An Ulster Unionist Party review group has demanded an immediate move on IRA decommissioning as the strains caused by the brinkmanship nature of the talks aimed at breaking the political deadlock begin to show.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, held talks in London with the UUP leader Mr David Trimble yesterday while in Belfast British and Irish officials continued efforts to find an interlocking formula on policing, demilitarisation, and IRA arms.
The urgency of the talks was illustrated by the mounting pressure on Mr Trimble to impose further sanctions on Sinn Fein in the absence of IRA decommissioning.
The First Minister also faces meetings of his party officers and party executive tomorrow and Saturday where he will hear more calls for action against Sinn Fein.
A senior British source conceded that time is beginning to run out for a deal. "We don't have much more time left to play with and that is why we must use the time we have as fruitfully as we can," he said.
Sources said at this stage there were no plans for Mr Blair or the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern to travel to Northern Ireland this week.
The negotiations are focused on policing with no sign of compromise or movement, according to sources. The participants are also seeking to strike a deal around the issues of demilitarisation, putting IRA weapons beyond use and the permanency of the institutions of the Belfast Agreement.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams said there was no progress. "The British government has not moved to honour the commitments it first made on these issues in the Good Friday agreement or at the conclusion of similar discussions last May," he wrote in yesterday's Belfast Telegraph.
He blamed British "securocrats" for the impasse. "I am firmly of the opinion that those within the British military, intelligence and permanent government . . . have a stranglehold over the process, and over British policy within the process," he said.
A special UUP review group, established to monitor arms decommissioning, said there has been no progress on this issue. Their findings will be discussed at what will be troublesome UUP meetings tomorrow and Saturday for Mr Trimble.
"If the present process is to remain there is an imperative need for immediate, credible and verifiable decommissioning to take place," the group said in a statement last night.
The UUP Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey warned yesterday that an absolutist position on policing and other issues by the Sinn Fein and the SDLP could destroy the political process.
"There is no point in dancing on the head of a pin over issues such as the powers of a Police Board to investigate this or investigate that. It is a gross dereliction of duty to insist on particular demands and run the risk of wrecking everything. The system cannot stand much more of the strain," he said.
He called on Sinn Fein and the SDLP to adopt a more realistic approach to policing. "Nobody is going to get it 100 per cent right from the start. If you stick rigidly to having your own agenda implemented from the start, the process is going to stand still," he warned.
The SDLP Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon said a deal was still possible but warned that it would be counter-productive for unionists to start imposing deadlines on republicans for decommissioning.
