The DUP leadership has accused Mr David Trimble of making "outlandish and unsubstantiated claims" in a desperate attempt to convince his party on Saturday to return to the powersharing executive with Sinn Fein.
The Rev Ian Paisley said he hoped the Ulster Unionist Council would reject Mr Trimble's proposals. "Trimble's claims that the IRA campaign is finally over indicate that he is now not just a Provo salesman but a Provo spokesman as well.
"Such is the desperation of the pro-deal campaign that David Trimble has taken to making outlandish and totally unsubstantiated claims about the IRA statement. His claims are not based on anything the IRA has said.
"They are based only on his interpretation of IRA words, an interpretation that has been proved wrong in the past. How many times must he be suckered before he faces up to the reality he is being played for a fool?"
The DUP leader claimed the media were biased against anti-agreement unionists. "For too long, the media has given Mr Trimble a free ride on his assertions about the Provo statement. Where does it say the war is over?
"Where does it say that decommissioning will occur? He is dancing to the Provos' tune." Dr Paisley noted the May 22nd deadline for decommissioning set by the Belfast Agreement passed yesterday.
"It was the day when people were told decommissioning would be complete, the day when the IRA would be exposed. Yet again, unionist demands perish under Provo pressure." The DUP leader said Mr Trimble's claim that the alternative to the deal was green-tinged direct rule was "a fudge, a fake, a fraud."
DUP deputy leader Mr Peter Robinson said he hoped the UUC would vote "no" at the weekend and he accused Mr Trimble of asking members to "forget past promises, ignore realities and suspend all their moral and intellectual judgment on the future."
He said the "negotiating failures" of the UUP leadership had "not entrenched but eroded" the union with Britain. He rejected Mr Trimble's assertion that only the Union flag would be flown from British government buildings in the North.
He said the Union flag was not even mentioned in the legislation and the decision would rest with the Northern Secretary. He said that even if Mr Trimble secured a majority on Saturday, "it will not have the consent of the unionist community."
The anti-agreement UUP MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said he was sceptical about whether the UUC would support returning to the Executive.