Sinn Féin will not accept any sanctions as part of a deal to restore the power-sharing executive in Belfast, party president Mr Gerry Adams warned tonight.
"Under no circumstances will we accept the rights of our electorate being diluted or denied," he said.
Mr Adams was in London earlier today for talks with British and Irish officials in advance of Monday's make or break bid by Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to hammer out a once and for all settlement with the pro-Agreement parties.
Intensive behind the scenes discussions will continue until the arrival at Hillsborough of Mr Ahern and Mr Blair.
It is understood there has some progress in relation to new legislation on policing and criminal justice, but other key areas including the scaling down of the military presence, human rights and equality have still to be sorted out.
Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble is expected to have a tense annual meeting of his party in Belfast tomorrow, amid warnings by hardline opponents there must be no agreement with the republican leadership, no matter what.
Unionists are pushing Mr Blair to establish an independent monitoring body with powers to introduce sanctions against Sinn Fein if the IRA fail to stick by their ceasefire.
But this is being fiercely resisted by Mr Adams. Before returning to Belfast tonight he added: "We will not be held accountable except for the Sinn Féin party and our mandate. Any move to introduce sanctions would be entirely outside the Agreement."
With the next election to the Stormont Assembly due on May 1st, time is running out and even though progress was reported in London tonight, all sides admit the chances of agreement on Monday remain at less than 50-50.
PA