The Northern Ireland DPP will decide in coming weeks if the extradition warrants against the Sinn Fein director of publicity, Ms Rita O'Hare, can be withdrawn and clear the way for her to take up her new post in Washington.
Since the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, announced her appointment last March, Ms O'Hare has been unable to obtain the kind of US visa which would allow her to take over as head of the Sinn Fein office here from Ms Mairead Keane.
The US is believed to be ready to grant Ms O'Hare the necessary visa but not until the British government withdraws the extradition warrants and charges of attempted murder against her. The charges stem from a gun-battle in west Belfast in 1971 in which Ms O'Hare and a British army officer were wounded.
Ms O'Hare was arrested in hospital but later jumped bail and went to Dublin. She was jailed in the Republic in 1975 for trying to smuggle explosives to a prisoner.
In a recent interview with the Irish People newspaper in the US, Ms O'Hare was asked if she was taking over in Washington from Ms Keane. She replied: "The difficulty is that I can't seem to get the sort of visa that would allow me to be here in that capacity in the Washington office. It's very unsatisfactory that that hasn't been resolved. But we're still working on it."
A spokesman for the British embassy in Washington told The Irish Times yesterday the DPP in Northern Ireland was "looking again at charges and evidence against her and will decide if the evidence still justifies the outstanding warrants and taking into account that the charges are fairly old. The DPP will decide in the next few weeks."
A State Department representative said yesterday Ms O'Hare had not yet applied for a visa to work in the Sinn Fein office in Washington. She had been granted short-term visas for visits to the US earlier this year.
Ms O'Hare is on holiday and could not be contacted.
The Sinn Fein press officer in Belfast, Mr Richard McAuley, said he had no idea of the visa situation of Ms O'Hare.