The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) will report today that the IRA planned the alleged abduction of republican dissident Mr Bobby Tohill in February.
The 50-page report will also detail a wide range of paramilitary and criminal activity by illegal groups on all sides, a well-placed and reliable source has confirmed to The Irish Times.
It will detail up to 12 paramilitary murders and graphically illustrate rates of activity by various groupings and show trends in illegal behaviour. Publication of the report, brought forward from June at the commission's choosing, is expected to be given Cabinet approval this morning.
This will clear the way for the four members of the body to present their findings at a Belfast press conference this afternoon.
The Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, is to make a statement in the House of Commons before publishing the report in the UK.
The source said last night, amid a growing political furore in Belfast, that the commission did not rely solely on security force information or details from the intelligence community.
Sinn Féin has accused the IMC of lack of independence, of being orchestrated by the British and Irish governments for political ends and of being a "tool of British securocrats".
Two of the IMC members are former CIA deputy director Mr Richard Kerr, and former Metropolitan Police commander Mr John Grieve.
Both have spent their careers assessing intelligence reports.
The two other members are former Department of Justice civil servant Mr Joe Brosnan and the former speaker of the Assembly, Lord Alderdice. The Irish Times was also told that financial penalties against Sinn Féin members and the Progressive Unionist in the Assembly had been recommended to the governments.
Mr Alex Maskey, the former Belfast lord mayor, said Sinn Féin was not prepared to be sanctioned for the actions of anyone other than Sinn Féin members.
The DUP, like Sinn Féin, also opposed the establishment of the commission last September.
Yesterday, Mr Peter Robinson denounced the IMC as toothless, and said that financial penalties for continued paramilitary activity, including murder, were insufficient.
The two governments are to intensify efforts to restart the political process in Northern Ireland at proximity talks at Lancaster House, London, next Thursday and Friday.
Despite the recriminations neither Sinn Féin nor the DUP have said they will not attend.
The Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, said yesterday the forthcoming report could help clear the air.
"If it puts people under pressure and says, 'We found you out, you have got to stop, you have got to go away', that's a good thing for policing," he said. "It enables us to go forward."
The report's findings on the Tohill incident will vindicate the call made by Mr Orde just hours after the alleged abduction of Mr Tohill.
The source said the report's language concerning this incident was carefully chosen so as not to conflict with court action involving four suspects in the case.
The SDLP said the report would confirm what was already known about paramilitary activity, and added that no politician unconnected to paramilitarism had anything to fear from its publication.