The Police Service of Northern Ireland has so far received at least 200 names of people "on the run" for IRA-related crimes seeking amnesty to return to the jurisdiction, it is understood. It is understood that at least two of the people are suspected of involvement in the Enniskillen bombing in November 1987.
The range of offences for which the named people are being sought includes firearms offences, bombings and murder.
However, it is also understood that some of the names so far put forward are something of a mystery to the PSNI, which is unable to link them to any crimes, according to senior sources.
It is also understood that more names are expected to be put forward by the IRA or its intermediaries for inclusion. Most of those seeking re-entry to Northern Ireland have been living in the Republic. Some are believed to be in the US and a small number in Central America or elsewhere.
Senior police sources say the introduction of an amnesty for on- the-run republicans will prompt a similar call from loyalists that all offences committed before the Belfast Agreement on Easter 1998 be subject to a complete amnesty.
Some senior security figures believe that a wider amnesty will be the logical outcome of any decision to grant immunity to republicans on the run. The issue of other such republicans may also tie into the decision of the IRA to proceed with another round of decommissioning weapons.
Intelligence sources say that while moving towards decommissioning its stock of infantry weapons, ranging from AK47 assault rifles to heavy machineguns and even surface-to-air missiles, it has re-equipped itself with other more modern weapons ranging from handguns to sub-machineguns and military assault shotguns.
One of those shotguns was used last month in the murder of a Co Down man, Matthew Burns, who had beaten up a number of local republicans who had confronted him about alleged-drug dealing.
The IRA subsequently ordered another five local men to leave the country or be killed. Police sources on both sides of the Border concur that the IRA appears set to continue this type of activity.
Earlier this week, the outgoing PSNI Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, told the Police Board he believed the IRA was considering a further act of decommissioning but he had no intelligence on when or how this might happen.
The issue of allowing on-the- run republicans to return to Northern Ireland arose during last summer's Weston Park talks in England when it was tentatively tied to a further verifiable act of decommissioning. A provisional deadline for agreement on the issue was set for the end of this month.
However, there are concerns that such a deal might cause further problems for the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, who faces his party's annual general meeting tomorrow.
The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, recently said there were anomalies between the situation of republicans who remained on the run and the early release of prisoners. He warned there were times when "distasteful things" had to be countenanced.
The British government has also been criticised by the Conservative Party spokesman on the North, Mr Quentin Davies, who said such an amnesty would be "the mother of all concessions to Sinn Féin and the IRA".