The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, has stressed that the terms of the Belfast Agreement should now be implemented and an Executive formed without delay. In a statement yesterday, Mr Adams also spelt out his party's position on decommissioning, saying it was committed to using its influence "positively". But decommissioning was not a precondition, a prerequisite to the establishment of the Executive and other institutions, or to their full implementation, he warned.
"The agreement must be implemented in full and we are committed to fulfilling in good faith our commitments. We are doing our best . . . But to say there can be no Executive, no institutions or structures without decommissioning was not in the Good Friday Agreement, and nor is it something Sinn Fein can deliver on," stressed Mr Adams.
He said that following the first meeting of the Assembly an "impasse" emerged around unionist refusal to talk to Sinn Fein. This obstacle appears to have been lifted following the party's appointment of Mr Martin McGuinness to represent Sinn Fein with the decommissioning body, and other initiatives, added Mr Adams.
Therefore, it was now up to the First Minister to deliver "on his pledge to build a pluralist society by moving to regularise his relationship with Sinn Fein, and to implement the agreement which he negotiated on".
The next steps, as outlined in the agreement, were - "the establishment of the Executive, the policy and implementation bodies, and the all-Ireland Ministerial Council". Mr Adams asserted that there was a time-frame in the agreement outlining when they should be in operation and this "must be adhered to".
The Sinn Fein president warned that any attempt to insert "preconditions", to block Sinn Fein's participation or the implementation of any elements "runs against the letter and spirit of the agreement and risks subverting it".
"We are committed to carrying out the agreement in all its parts, in the time-scale. Are others prepared to do the same?" he asked.
Mr Adams said the onus was on the British and Irish governments to "fill any vacuum resulting from unionist reluctance to fulfil their commitments" since it was incumbent that the hopes of the Irish people for peace, as "expressed in the referendum and elections" were realised.
Later at a press conference, Mr Adams emphasised that the agreement was not a "draft" document, a "dummy run" or a "rehearsal" - but "reality" and said the Executive should have been established after the appointment of the First and Deputy Minister. He said the Executive, the all-Ireland bodies, the implementation and policy-making bodies, and a programme of work must be up in shadow form by the end of next month. "Decommissioning is not a precondition to any of that and for anyone to insert that as a precondition at this time is being disingenuous and dishonest," said the Sinn Fein president.
His comments come amid expectations that he will meet Mr Trimble tomorrow or on Wednesday. However, Mr Adams said no date had yet been fixed for the meeting.
Mr Adams was responding to comments made by the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, yesterday, saying decommissioning of IRA weapons was now inevitable. Mr Trimble said Sinn Fein's position was now like an escalator, following its appointment of Mr McGuinness as a go-between the IRA and the international decommissioning body. "They have put themselves on an escalator and the escalator will inevitably lead to actual decommissioning," he said.
Mr Trimble said he would not shake Mr Adams's hand when they met and he would tell the Sinn Fein president that he could not enter into a government with Sinn Fein unless decommissioning started. He is also expected to say that that was now the position of President Clinton and to argue that he had now pushed his Ulster Unionist Party so far that if he did it again: "I will fall off the ledge".
However, Mr Adams played down reports in another Sunday newspaper that the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, was offering demilitarisation with the removal of some British troops and security installations in return for some immediate IRA decommissioning. Mr Adams said he "wouldn't place too much importance" on the reports, adding that he had several telephone and personal conversations this week with President Clinton, Mr Blair and the Taoiseach and their positions were "clear".
When asked about reported threats from the IRA to supporters of the "Real IRA" and the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, Mr Adams said he didn't "give any credence" to the claims. "I certainly don't have any firsthand knowledge of any of this in terms of the 32-County Sovereignty movement.
"It obviously has the right to exist, and we make no bones about that, people have the right to organise politically to put forward their ideas and voice their opinions. We support everyone's right to that."