Devolution can be rapidly restored in Northern Ireland if Republicans take the necessary steps to increase confidence in the peace process, it was claimed today.
Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble said the IRA must decommission all its weapons, declare that its war is over and cease all paramilitary activity.
He also accused the IRA of hampering the work of General John de Chastelain's Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD).
"Republicans know that they have to decommission in an open and verifiable manner. That means that what they do must be seen, and not rely on merely Gen de Chastelain's words that they have done the deed," he said.
"And they know that a statement that this so-called war is over is essential to rebuild confidence. They know they will be locked into tough sanctions if their fiends in the IRA wobble and revert to their old ways".
He said absence of any of these three political imperatives, and their acts will be ineffectual.
Mr Trimble said decommissioning must be carried out in an open manner before Sinn Fein could be allowed to return to a power sharing executive.
Mr Trimble said he would be travelling to the United States this week to spell out what was needed to restore devolution.
"It can be restored rapidly if Republicans do what is necessary," he said. However, he added: "There are serious doubts in my mind about whether now that the moment of truth has arrived whether republicans are able or willing to abandon completely the terrorism that has shaped so much of their lives".
Sinn Fein national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin described the remarks as provocative.
"It is very much an open question whether David Trimble believes that we can make politics work and that we can actually have functional political institutions that are generally representative and inclusive," he said. PA