THE Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, has raised a series of questions on the IRA and the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.
In an eight-page letter to Mr Blair, the UUP leader asked when "Sinn Fein/IRA" must respond to the joint paper on decommissioning issued by the two governments. He pointed to the continuing IRA campaign, including the shooting of two RUC men in Lurgan, Co Armagh, last month.
Would the British government demand a "genuinely complete, permanent" ending of IRA violence? He asked if any new IRA ceasefire would really be tested for six weeks because the aide memoire from the British government seemed to allow Sinn Fein immediate access to the talks process with facilities and privileges enjoyed by other participants.
Would assurances of Sinn Fein's expulsion in the event of IRA violence be adhered to? Mr Trimble asked. Could the British government give an assurance there would be no more meetings or other contacts with "Sinn Fein/IRA" in the light of recent murders and murderous attacks?
He also asked Mr Blair to confirm that the decommissioning paper could not be used to block the actual handover of weapons by substituting talks about decommissioning.
Did the parallel process on offer mean there would be total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations in the talks by the end of negotiations in May, 1998?
Could the proposed decommissioning sub-committee be used to block the handover of weapons? Would the proposed independent commission be in a position to receive terrorist arms upon the launch of the "three strands"? Would the Ulster Unionists be consulted on the identity of the commissioners?
Could the UUP be assured that the Dublin Government would not use parliamentary devices to delay the implementation of any decommissioning schemes in the Republic?
There was a timetable for the talks, would there be a timetable for decommissioning? Mr Trimble also asked if the British government had received a specific assurance from Dublin that it was resolutely committed to total disarmament of paramilitaries concurrent with the political process.