Martin McGuinness has launched a surprise attack on Northern Secretary Peter Hain and on former Policing Board vice chairman Denis Bradley over the establishment of a new group to examine ways to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.
The North's Deputy First Minister claimed the decision to establish the new body was a "unilateral move by Peter Hain dressed up as consultation between Ian Paisley and myself".
He was also critical of Mr Bradley, joint chairman of the group, whom, he claimed, had failed to mention British state violence.
However, Mr Bradley denied that either he or his co-chairman Lord Robin Eames, former Anglican archbishop of Armagh, excluded anyone or any group from their consideration.
Mr McGuinness said there was "no mention of British state forces in terms of parties that have to be included".
His comments echoed those of party colleague and Mid-Ulster Assembly member Francie Molloy, who earlier said that Mr Bradley, "in the course of numerous interviews, stated that republicans and loyalists needed to engage with his new group".
He said the former Policing Board vice-chairman had "repeatedly ignored the role of the British state in this conflict".
"He has deliberately ignored the hundreds of people killed directly by the British state or through their surrogate paramilitary gangs."
Speaking to The Irish Timesat Sinn Féin's annual Wolfe Tone commemoration in Bodenstown, Co Kildare, yesterday, Mr McGuinness said the move to establish the body was a "unilateral decision by Peter Hain dressed up as consultation" between DUP leader and First Minister Dr Paisley and himself.
He said that, "if you don't look at the activities of British intelligence agencies, the RUC, the British Army and the NIO [Northern Ireland Office]", it would not work.
Insisting that this new group "has to be inclusive", he said the power and role of the NIO had to be examined, along with all of the British intelligence agencies who were involved.
The Deputy First Minister said that "the key parties in all this are the victims' groups", some of whom he said had been critical of the new body. He said it had to be representative of all the people.
It was "particularly disappointing that, in the publicised comments that Denis Bradley made" at the launch of the new group, there was no mention of any other parties to the conflict except the IRA.
Mr McGuinness said he had great respect for some members of the new group, and he said everybody should co-operate to assist all those who had suffered in the conflict.
Mr Molloy claimed "there is a feeling amongst many that the fact that the British state appointed this group and will have the final say on any recommendations from it [ means] that there is an attempt by the British authorities to abdicate their responsibility for the conflict and their role in it".
Mr Bradley, however, denied he had overlooked any aspect of the conflict. "If people go over everything I said in the course of interviews, they will find that I included both the British and Irish governments," he said.
"Secondly, I also said that everybody who has anything to say to the new consultative group should say it."
Referring to joint interviews given by himself and Lord Eames, he added: "Both of us have repeatedly said that we have a blank-sheet approach to this.
"That includes the two governments, all the parties both North and South, and all the paramilitary groups - everyone should contribute."