Ulster Unionist Party officers have agreed to meet on June 16th for a crucial meeting of the 900-memberruling council.
Anti-Good Friday Agreement Ulster Unionists requested the meeting of the council because they want the party to reject the joint declaration released earlier this month by the British and Irish governments.
The blueprint contained pledges on the scaling down of the British army presence in Northern Ireland, policing and justice reform, equality, human rights, supportfor the Irish and Ulster Scots languages, a sanctions body for parties who contravene the Agreement, and a scheme which would enable so-called on-the-run paramilitaries to return to the North.
Hardline unionists have been outraged by the proposals on demilitarisation,the scheme for on-the-run paramilitaries and an Irish Government nominee on thesanctions body.
Their fury has been fuelled by a leaked memorandum from the General Officer Commanding to Britih army chiefs that the Royal Irish Regiment's home battalions could be disbanded.
The army now insists the 3,000 soldiers attached to the battalions in Omagh, Armagh City and Holywood, Co Down, will only go when the paramilitary threat disappears.
UUP sources said the motion which will be put to delegates would urge them to reaffirm the position they took at a council meeting last September that they would not go back into government with Sinn Féin until the IRA demonstrated itwas beginning to stand down its paramilitary structures.
The motion will also urge delegates to reject proposals linked to the jointdeclaration.
UUP honorary secretary Arlene Foster, who missed today's meeting, confirmed thatthe Ulster Unionist Council would gather on June 16 and welcomed the opportunityfor the party rank and file to debate the document.
"I look forward to a constructive debate on the joint declaration as there isa need for clarity and plain language on the party's position," she said.
"Hopefully the UUP can move forward as a result of this."
Earlier, DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley challenged pro-Agreement UlsterUnionists to point to any benefits in the joint declaration.
Noting the UUP's Dermot Nesbitt had said there were positive aspects to thedocument, the North Antrim MP said: "The Joint Declaration is a blueprint forthe advancement of terrorism in Northern Ireland.
"It is designed to ensure that all the demands made by Sinn Féin/IRA are metin full.
"Five years since the signing of the Belfast Agreement, and despite the factthat Sinn Féin/IRA remains absolutely wedded to the path of terror, the UlsterUnionist Party has negotiated away a further raft of concessions in the vainhope of breathing new life into the failed accord.
"David Trimble and his cohorts are now attempting to convince unionists thatthere are benefits for the unionist community to be found within this JointDeclaration.
"I challenge these Ulster Unionist negotiators to tell us what these benefitsare."
PA