People must not jump to conclusions about who carried out the raid on a Special Branch office in Northern Ireland, Mr David Trimble said today.
Suspicion for the theft of intelligence documents at the Castlereagh base has fallen on members of the security services, but the First Minister said it was not necessarily an inside job.
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"Far too many people are jumping to conclusions and I think invariably one finds when people jump to conclusions they don't always jump to the right one," he said.
He accepted those who carried out the robbery at Castlereagh in east Belfast on Sunday would have had detailed knowledge about the building. But he said: "That's not quite the same as saying it's an inside operation".
Mr Trimble welcomed the announcement by Police Ombudsman Ms Nuala O'Loan that she would not be mounting her own inquiry into the break-in. "The Ombudsman's office must never try to develop into a rival police force," he said.
The appointment of a senior civil servant to head a special government review into the incident was a measure of how seriously London viewed the matter, Mr Trimble said.
Security chiefs believe at least one of the three men who broke into the office had inside knowledge and was either a serving or former member of the security services.
Former members of the police and army who were based in the east Belfast building are also expected to be interviewed amid suspicion that someone with a grudge could be behind the theft.
PA