Mr David Trimble has implied that an expected further inspection of IRA arms dumps this week could jeopardise future decommissioning.
Security "normalisation" measures announced late last week have fuelled speculation that the IRA would permit representatives of the International Commission on Decommissioning to revisit the arms dumps they had earlier been to and verify that the weapons there had not been moved.
On Friday, it was announced that 21 outstanding extradition warrants on IRA escapees would be dropped. A similar range of concessions preceded the first inspection of arms dumps in June.
Quoted by the Sunday Life, Mr Trimble said he had not been told to expect any inspections but implied that he expected such a move. "I suppose if you do put two and two together, you do often get four." Mr Trimble implied that actual decommissioning might have been jeopardised, saying that: "It is much better to give the donkey a carrot after it has moved, otherwise you end up with an unmoved donkey and an empty basket."
Meanwhile, Mr Trimble's continued leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party has been called further into question as the man many believe to be his main rival indicated he might challenge his position.
UUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson told the BBC yesterday that if there was to be a leadership contest, he would "not shirk my responsibility".
Asked directly if he would rule out a challenge, Mr Donaldson said: "We haven't got a leadership contest at present so there is nothing to stand for but at the end of the day, it is essential the Unionist Party grasp the issues; there is a crisis of confidence."
Mr Donaldson said his priority was to "ensure the Ulster Unionist Party is placed back on a firm footing.
"There is no doubt about that and that needs to be dealt with, that requires firm leadership and I think everyone now is watching and looking to see what David Trimble will do, will he provide that firm leadership?"
Mr Donaldson added, "I think there has got to be a change of policy and if there isn't a change of policy, then I think the party as a whole, never mind the leader, are in deep, deep trouble."
Speaking earlier in the weekend, Mr Donaldson said there was "inevitability" that a meeting of the UUP's ruling body, the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC), would be called to address the deep unrest in the party after its loss of the South Antrim Westminster seat to the Democratic Unionist Party.
He said that if the party officers did not call a meeting of the UUC, then a meeting would be called by collecting the signatures from 60 UUC members.
Party colleague Sir Reg Empey said he would be prepared to sit with the party's officer team and consider calling a council meeting but implicitly criticised Mr Donaldson for publicly calling for a meeting of the UUC instead of using the proper channels. "We don't have to go around like headless chickens calling for this and calling for that," he said.
He also warned of the dangers of being negative after the party's loss of the South Antrim seat. "The more we talk ourselves down the more we will be down," he said.
Sir Reg said paramilitaries had "spat in the faces of the ordinary decent law-abiding citizens of Northern Ireland", but said that unionists should not be "torturing" themselves. They should instead be focusing on those who had dishonoured their obligations.
Asked about the possibility of a new leadership of the UUP, Sir Reg said the individuals in leadership were not important.
Hundreds of people were alive today who would not have been and the North was in stronger economic shape than it had ever been.