Sinn Fein's place in the Northern talks is being challenged in the wake of the latest paramilitary shootings in Northern Ireland.
There were suspicions of IRA involvement in at least one of the killings despite the danger that this could lead to Sinn Fein's expulsion from the process. The issue is likely to overshadow the proceedings when the talks move to Dublin next week.
Three suspected IRA members were arrested in Twinbrook, Belfast, in a security operation following the murder of a leading loyalist in Dunmurry on the south-western outskirts of the city at lunchtime. Mr Robert Dougan (38) was shot dead while sitting in a car outside a textiles firm.
The Irish National Liberation Army denied responsibility. The dead man, said to be a member of the Ulster Defence Association, had been the subject of attacks in the past by both the INLA and the IRA. "He knew they were after him," a friend of his said.
The IRA cover group Direct Action Against Drugs was being blamed for the killing of a drug-dealer, Mr Brendan Campbell (30), outside a restaurant on Belfast's Lisburn Road late on Monday night. A woman who was also shot in the incident was said to be in a serious condition in hospital.
Mr Campbell had survived two previous attempts to kill him.
The North's Political Affairs Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, said: "These are appalling acts of violence which I and the government utterly condemn. It's too early to say who was responsible. The police are investigating both incidents intensively and thoroughly.
"If the attack is shown to have been committed by an organisation connected with a participant in the talks process, then the implications of that, of course, will be taken very seriously indeed and need to be examined seriously. The government is determined to maintain, obviously, the integrity of this talks process."
His comments came as the Ulster Unionist Party prepared to publish a position paper on a possible new political settlement in Northern Ireland. The document, to be published today, focuses on a Council of the British Isles as having overriding responsibility for future North-South arrangements.
A summary was issued yesterday. The paper does not mention North-South bodies. It contains six main proposals, including one on a the Council of the British Isles.
This council, according to the UUP, will facilitate "mutually beneficial co-operation between all current and proposed administrations in the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic serviced by a single small secretariat".
The emphasis on the council and the suggestion that it will have pre-eminence in terms of future North-South structures will provoke a lukewarm if not hostile response from nationalists.
Meanwhile, responding to the killings and arrests, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr David Trimble, said: "The probability is that the IRA is responsible for both murders. Now we are going on the basis at this stage of suspicion and probability."
He called on the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, to clarify the situation. "The Chief Constable, however, will within a matter of days know the truth of this matter and he has a very clear obligation to tell the people the truth." Mr Trimble said if IRA involvement in either attack was established, Sinn Fein's position in the process would have to be reassessed.
Mr Gerry Adams said Sinn Fein was taking part in the talks in good faith. "We are here on the basis of our electoral mandate. We represent no one else except our party and we want to see all killings brought to an end."
. A close associate of m,urdered Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright escaped an apparent attempt to kill him in Portadown, Co. Armagh, last night.
Mr Mark Fulton was standing outside a relative's flat in the Westland Road area of Portadown at about 8.30 p.m. when a lone gunman fired a number of shots.
Mr Fulton claimed he heard the gunman calling out his name and saw him "out of the side of my eye" running. Mr Fulton then quickly stepped indoors, closing a security door behind him. A number of bulle6ts hit the door, he said. He claimed that the Ulster Volunteer Force was behind the attack. But Mr David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party, which has links with the UVF, said there was no foundation for the claim.
He said he was amazed Mr Fulton claimed to know so quickly who was supposed to be responsible, considering both of the latest murders had been carried out by republicans.