Northern Ireland's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, has said he hopes the republican movement will stick to its obligations and begin decommissioning. He made his remarks yesterday despite the imminence of today's publication of Gen de Chastelain's report.
"It is still possible that republicans could take the necessary action to demonstrate their commitment to peace and democracy by beginning the process of decommissioning because that is what people want, that is what people voted for. Let us hope that even in this last hour, the republican movement will live up to the expectations it created," he told the BBC's On the Record.
Mr Trimble insisted the Ulster Unionist Party had no room left to manoeuvre. Its capacity to sustain the Executive was "running out of road".
"Our capacity to sustain the administration with people in it who have not demonstrated a commitment to peaceful means was extremely limited . . . It was clear that if we took the first step, others would have to follow very quickly. Unfortunately, that has not yet happened. It's possible it still could happen and I hope very much that the republican movement realises that this best chance that they have mustn't be thrown away."
He said while unionists had proved they were willing to take risks they could not allow the democratic process to be corrupted by forgetting about illegally held weapons.
The UUP leader's views were echoed by one of his most steadfast supporters in the party, Sir Reg Empey, who said unionists were not prepared to concede on the arms issue.
"I could not take you to a single member of the Ulster Unionist Council who will say to me that we can just sweep this issue under the carpet. The unionist community feels that it has been steamrollered time and time again and they just will not take any more." UUP MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, who is known for his hardline views within the party, described the republican movement as the "Oliver Twists of the peace process".
"Every time we reach a situation like this, the hand comes out - `please, sir, we want some more' - now, you can't sustain that indefinitely," he told BBC's The World This Weekend.
The newly elected chairman of the Ulster Young Unionist Council, Dr Philip Weir, said his party had to reject any attempted fudge. Any token gesture without a detailed schedule for the full destruction of illegal armaments by May was "worthless".
There also appears to be a hardening of positions by the political representatives of loyalist paramilitaries. The leader of the Progressive Unionist Party - it is linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force - said the organisation was unlikely to take the first step.
"The UVF will not consider decommissioning prior to the IRA decommissioning and even then if there is still a threat from republicanism, they would be unlikely to decommission," said Mr David Ervine.
The Ulster Democratic Party leader, Mr Gary McMichael, said his party's leadership had not made any recommendations to the UFF on disarmament.
The Presbyterian Moderator, Dr John Lockington, called on all paramilitary groups to consolidate the peace process by starting to hand in weapons. "When so many have gone so far in negotiating and implementing the agreement, it is reasonable to expect paramilitary groups to meet their moral obligations to begin to decommission their weapons. The vast majority of people in Ireland want peace and in that peace there is no reason to hold illegal weapons."