Unionist politicians last night insisted that any future attempts by Sinn Fein to extend the Belfast Agreement deadline for full decommissioning would entail renegotiating the entire agreement.
But the SDLP's senior negotiator, Mr Sean Farren, said that the question of the timing of the end of the decommissioning process should be left to the independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which is chaired by Gen John de Chastelain.
Mr Farren said that if a credible process of decommissioning was under way by next May he could not imagine that its absolute deadline would become a sticking point.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, yesterday blamed unionist delays in the process for making it "virtually impossible" for the May 2000 decommissioning deadline to be met.
However, Sir Reg Empey, the UUP MP, maintained that any attempts to push back the May 2000 deadline for the completion of arms decommissioning would need the agreement of the signatories to the agreement.
"Republicans were always saying we have to have the agreement and let's stick to it. If you're going to have new deadlines in the agreement, that involves the change of the agreement, with all the implications that that involves", Sir Reg said.
He continued: "We are not renegotiating the agreement. We are looking at specific issues that have caused us difficulties - devolution and decommissioning."
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, said that without decommissioning being completed by May 2000 there was "not the remotest chance of the unionist community accepting Provo participation in government". If the Dublin Government was "no longer bound by the terms of the agreement in relation to decommissioning", then nobody else was bound by its other terms, he added.
Mr Farren pointed out that the other deadlines in the Belfast Agreement had not been met, such as the deadline of October 31st last for reaching agreement on the implementation bodies and the establishment of the North-South ministerial council.
"It ill becomes the Ulster Unionists to be making sticking points and making such demands at this point, given their own record with regard to deadlines", Mr Farren said. "My attitude is that the deadline is in the agreement and we shouldn't set out to alter what's in it. If we have a credible process of decommissioning under way, it becomes a smaller problem."
Weekend radio comments by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in which he conceded that demands for an extension of the May 2000 deadline could be made, were also criticised by several politicians in the North. A Government spokesman yesterday played down Mr Ahern's remarks, saying they had been misinterpreted.
Responding to Mr Ahern's remarks, the deputy leader of the Alliance Party, Mr Seamus Close, said: "Careless talk, no matter how well intentioned, could unpick and unravel the Good Friday agreement and the progress that has been made to date. Until such time as the review proper begins, it is extremely unhelpful for the Taoiseach or anyone else to speculate on what may or may not happen in the future."
The UUP's security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, said that the party would require a clear statement from the Government in the aftermath of Mr Ahern's remarks before normal negotiations could continue.
The PUP leader, Mr David Ervine, said that it was time for both Mr Ahern and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to back off from the peace process. "What the row over Mr Ahern's comments illustrates is the need for the prime ministers to step back from this process, only to return at a later date when the parties have defined and addressed the problems."
Meanwhile, in an open letter to Mr Blair, the chairman of the Relatives for Justice group urged the Prime Minister to implement all elements of the Belfast Agreement and not put everything on hold. Mgr Raymond Murray said that this would increase the trust and confidence of the negotiators. The parties would then reach agreement along the way.