The US government has dismissed as inaccurate a newspaper report that a decision has been made to invite Sinn Féin leaders to the White House on St Patrick's Day but to forbid them from fundraising while in the US.
An administration source told The Irish Times that the White House had not yet drawn up the St Patrick's Day guest list and criticised yesterday's report.
"It doesn't profit the peace process to have these inaccurate leaks," the source said.
Sinn Féin leaders were not invited to the White House on St Patrick's Day last year when President Bush received the family of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney.
Last November Gerry Adams cancelled a visit to New York after he was told that he could visit the US, but could not engage in fundraising.
Sinn Féin is allowed to raise funds in the US, but party leaders have been refused fundraising visas following the Northern Bank robbery just over a year ago.
The Bush administration has linked the issue of fundraising visas to Sinn Féin's attitude to policing in the North, calling for some movement towards co-operation with the PSNI.
A decision on the White House guest list for St Patrick's Day is expected within days.