THE British government's position on the decommissioning of illegally held weapons appeared unaffected by yesterday's publication of Sinn Fein's submission to the international body.
The Prime Minister, Mr John Major, is due to meet the body - led by former Senator George Mitchell - in London this afternoon. But on the eve of that meeting, senior British sources made it clear that the so called "Washington 3" condition for Sinn Fein's admission to all party talks still holds. This requires a start to decommissioning.
British officials studying the Sinn Fein text made it clear they had not examined the proposals in detail. However, one source suggested that Sinn Fein was holding to "a self defeating position".
The source said Sinn Fein appeared to contemplate decommissioning only in the context of an overall political settlement, but that would not occur without all party talks, which in turn would not take place unless a start was first made on the decommissioning process.
While initial media attention was focused on possible agreement that weapons might ultimately be decommissioned by those in possession of them, the source said the Sinn Fein proposals were not a response to the "Washington 3" test. And sources stressed that "verification" would be a vital component of agreement on any system of decommissioning.
It was confirmed last night that various decommissioning options were presented to Sinn Fein in a British government position paper on May 10th last year. That was the occasion of the first meeting between the party and the Northern Ireland Minister of State, Mr Michael Ancram.
The British paper outlined various possibilities, and contained the following passage: "The destruction of arms by those currently in possession of them while not an option the government would wish to rule out at this stage, raises a number of potentially significant practical and legal difficulties, including problems of verification and the risk to public safety.
"The government could agree to proceed on this basis only if fully satisfied that these difficulties could be successfully and safely overcome.
In response to the publication of Sinn Fein's submission yesterday, British sources said the concept of verification by an independent third party was not an option which the government would find satisfactory.
Government sources here continue to decline to say whether they expect Mr Mitchell's report to be available, as scheduled, in the middle of the month. But while Mr Major will be eager to hear a progress report from Mr Mitchell today, sources close to him have expressed confidence that the international body has a clear sense of its remit.