The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, yesterday insisted there was no question of a trade-off between reform of the RUC and decommissioning of paramilitary arms.
Attempting to allay fears expressed by the chairman of the North's Police Federation, Dr Mowlam said: "There is no read across from one part of the agreement to another, no preconditions, no relations. What it says is that all parts have to move in parallel."
The police federation chairman, Mr Les Rodgers, admitted yesterday that RUC members were fearful for the future and anxious that the British government might intend to abolish the force in a trade-off for IRA arms decommissioning.
He said the RUC had policed the Troubles and now deserved to police the peace. He warned that "murder and mayhem" would result if the RUC was abandoned in return for the handing in of paramilitary weapons.
The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr John Taylor, denied that there was a link between RUC reform and the hand-over of weapons. "In the Stormont agreement there is a special chapter on decommissioning of illegal armaments linking it with membership of the proposed Assembly executive but certainly not linking it with the RUC and policing arrangements," he said.
Mr Rodgers, whose organisation represents 12,500 rank-and-file officers, also outlined his belief that decommissioning was not even on the agenda of the paramilitaries. "Instead we are faced daily with the breathtaking arrogance of people who are not long out of prison or are lucky not to have been there, telling the rest of us that decommissioning will have to wait, but RUC reform cannot," he said.
The SDLP Assembly member for West Belfast, Mr Alex Attwood, said yesterday that suggestions of a trade-off were "wrong, mischievous and misrepresent the agreement". He said all parties to the agreement knew their obligations on all issues.
Mr Gerry Kelly, of Sinn Fein, accused Mr Rodgers of attempting to influence the independent commission on policing, which is chaired by Mr Chris Patten. The Assembly member said there was no connection between decommissioning and police reform and dismissed the officer's remarks as speculation. "He's trying to defend the indefensible and trying to hold on to a partisan, paramilitary police force when what we need to police the peace is a policing service," Mr Kelly added.