The Irish Republican Socialist Party has confirmed that it has drawn up proposals which could lead to a "non-aggression pact" between its military wing, the INLA, and loyalist paramilitaries.
The documents were passed to the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, by a former Presbyterian minister who was forced out of the North because of his ecumenical views.
The Rev David Armstrong is now Anglican vicar of St Martin's in Cambridge. As a minister in Limavady Presbyterian Church in Co Derry in 1983, he led a section of his congregation into a Catholic church across the road and wished that congregation a happy Christmas.
He received a standing ovation, but some of his own parishioners condemned him. Despite criticism from senior church members, he continued to pursue closer relations with Catholics. In 1985 he felt obliged to leave the North because of intolerance from his own community.
Mr Armstrong confirmed that he had passed on the IRSP proposals. The PUP chief spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said the UVF was considering the document. It is understood that the UDA has also received the document and is studying it.
The IRSP said it issued the paper because it believed the Belfast Agreement was in serious trouble and it wanted to avoid sectarian violence if the talks process collapsed. "Only working-class communities will suffer if this happens," a spokesman said.