The British ambassador, Mr Ivor Roberts, has criticised Sinn Fein on the decommissioning issue, saying: "It is hard to believe that a party with a close connection with a paramilitary group cannot bring about decommissioning.
"And if they cannot bring it about, why can they not make it clear they believe decommissioning should happen and condemn those who fail to bring it about?"
Speaking to a business organisation in Dublin yesterday, he stressed that decommissioning was not an obligation under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, but said there had to be certainty that it would happen during the timescale of the accord.
Mr Roberts also emphasised the urgency of making progress by the end-of-month deadline for advancing the Belfast Agreement.
"The agreement cannot be left waiting on the shelf forever. If we cannot pick it up now and implement it, it may not be there much longer."