THE Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, yesterday denied unionist claims that the British government had shifted its position on the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
Unionist spokesmen had condemned a statement by Sir Patrick at the weekend to the effect that a hand over of weapons would not be expected at, the beginning of all party negotiations.
However, the Northern Secretary said yesterday that what he "had set out in his remarks was "entirely consistent with the Mitchell compromise".
That compromise, on which the British government's position was founded, required that decommissioning must take place in "the process of negotiations not necessarily at the beginning.
The Sinn Fein leadership, was believed to be involved in internal meetings yesterday to discuss its strategy in the aftermath of the elections in which the party made significant gains.
The chances of the IRA reinstating its ceasefire before next Monday's scheduled start of all party negotiations are still believed to depend of the outcome of today's Anglo Irish meeting in London.
While the odds appear to be against a formal renewal of the cessation, a comprehensive agreement between the two governments on the involvement of the former senator, Mr Mitchell, on a means of addressing the decommissioning issue, and on an agenda and procedural rules for the negotiations, would create a new situation.
In those circumstances, there would be a powerful incentive for the IRA to make the required gesture and clear the way for Sinn Fein to be invited to participate in the talks.
Meanwhile, the Ulster Democratic Party leader, Mr Gary McMichael, yesterday warned against any attempt to "isolate" the two loyalist fringe parties at the all party talks.
His warning was framed in the light of the possibility that Sinn Fein might not be at the negotiations and that unionist leaders and the British government might require the UDP and the PUP to "sign up" to a decommissioning process unilaterally.
Mr McMichael said that some of the parties to the talks might try to "punish" parties such as his because they had ruled out unilateral decommissioning.
Such a tactic, he said, would amount to punishing the loyalist paramilitaries and their associated political wings for their commitment to maintaining their ceasefire.
It would be irresponsible to isolate the loyalist parties in this manner at the negotiations, Mr McMichael said.