The Northern Ireland First Minister, Mr David Trimble, today asked Sinn Féin to use its influence to control organised violence from the nationalist side.
The call followed talks with the PSNI’s acting chief constable, Mr Colin Cramphorn, to discuss ongoing sectarian violence at flashpoint areas of east Belfast.
Following the meeting Mr Trimble said: "You can’t have a peace process that is constantly dogged by violence orchestrated by people who have styled themselves as prime-movers of the peace process. The question has to be asked of Gerry Adams and Alex Maskey: ‘What’s their organisation doing to stop this’?" he said.
He also played down the possibility of Sinn Féin joining the Policing Board in the midst of the current level of violence.
"There can be no question of Sinn Fein with any integrity moving onto the Policing Board unless it has addressed its responsibilities to stop violence from republicans," he said.
After meeting Mr Cramphorn, Mr Trimble called for closed circuit television systems to be installed at flash-point areas to provide evidence of who the troublemakers are and to boost public confidence.
With the police indicating their already stretched resources meant no more CCTVs could be erected, the First Minister pledged to lobby the Government.
"I will be going to the Northern Ireland Office and saying `why can't police be given resources for something as necessary as that'," he added.
The bitter fighting between Protestant and Catholic mobs along peace lines in parts of the city has left some hard line Ulster Unionists claiming the IRA has been orchestrating the violence.