The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, has accused Mr Jeffrey Donaldson and others of "forming a party within a party" to fight the Belfast Agreement. He said they had been "waging constant warfare against the party over 2 1/2 years". There had been 21 meetings since the Belfast Agreement because of this. "How do you say you want the party to be reunited when you have been running a campaign in order to divide?"
Mr Trimble asked if today's debate at the Ulster Unionist Council meeting in Belfast was really about tactics, saying those in the party who described the Assembly as a "toytown parliament" wanted to pull it down.
He conceded that on paramilitary decommissioning "nothing has happened since June, and that is an appalling state of affairs", but in a letter to UUC delegates he promised to outline "a carefully considered response should republicanism continue to ignore its commitments".
He said party negotiations on a compromise had ended because Mr Donaldson's proposals had been totally unrealistic and "a complete repudiation" of what had been going on in the back ground.
He accused Mr Donaldson of being "precious" about criticism of his proposals. "If you are going to come into the political arena and criticise other people for their ideas, you can't be surprised if your own ideas come under scrutiny," he said.
Mr Trimble implied that he, too, would be tabling a motion. He said he had put ideas to Mr Donaldson during the week "and those ideas will be put again tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Mr Trimble's deputy made a plea for reconciliation within the party. In a statement, Mr John Taylor said the UUP's policy had always been one of "no guns, no government".
"In the present circumstances there is considerable merit in many of the contents of the proposal by Jeffrey Donaldson MP and colleagues. There is scope for negotiation, and agreement leads to unanimity at the UUC. I urge an all-out effort today to reach that agreement," he said.
Mr Donaldson said that even this week's report of the International Commission on Decommissioning highlighted the folly of the UUP's current policies. There had been no decommissioning. "That's an indictment of the present strategy, it has failed," he said.
He defended his suggestion of a November 30th deadline for IRA decommissioning, saying: "The only reason deadlines don't work is when people walk away from them." He had been engaged in discussions "in good faith" with supporters of Mr Trimble until Thursday evening when he had heard proposals he had put forward described as "a wish list".
Mr Donaldson accused Mr Trimble of disregarding those who did not agree with him. "Do the 47 per cent of the party that I represent not count for anything? Is no one in the leadership prepared to listen to what we have to say? Is that the way we're going to go forward?"
Mr Donaldson said his goal had always been unity. "I regret that others don't seem to have the same energy and focus on such an objective," he said.
The West Tyrone UUP MP, Mr Willie Thompson, dismissed this week's second examination of several IRA arms dumps by Mr Martti Ahtisaari and Mr Cyril Ramaphosa as "meaningless".
"We were told the first inspection would lead to actual decommissioning," he said. " It hasn't happened. How many times will Mr Trimble be fooled? I don't think he can go on like this.
"Mr Blair says be patient. How long do we have to be patient?
"The majority of people in Northern Ireland no longer support the agreement and blame the Ulster Unionists for it. With elections coming up, minds within our party will be concentrated."