A series of statements which could unlock the door to progress in the peace process are at the heart of crisis talks in the review taking place at Stormont's Castle Buildings this week, according to high-level political sources.
The proposal is that statements would be separately issued by: Senator George Mitchell, who is presiding over the review; Gen. John de Chastelain, the head of the decommissioning body; Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader; and Mr Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president.
Sources said the hope was that the combined set of statements would create the conditions for the implementation of the Belfast Agreement. A number of "incremental" and "reciprocal" steps could be taken, e.g. the appointment of an interlocutor to represent the IRA's position to the decommissioning body could be accompanied by the establishment of a shadow executive.
There would be no dramatic overnight moves, one source said, but rather a gradual progression or sequencing towards the goal of a fully-functioning executive and a solution to the decommissioning conundrum.
Gen. de Chastelain's paper would contain recommendations on how decommissioning could be achieved as part of the implementation of the agreement.
A senior source said that "certain assurances" had been put to the unionists on decommissioning early this week. Mr Trimble had rejected them in emphatic and even heated terms, although discussions had continued and there was a feeling that gradual progress was being made.
Last night, however, it appeared that the unionists were still having very considerable difficulties with the deal on offer. Sinn Fein, on the other hand, was said to be "ready to brief its people on the ground that the deal was done". Sources said that the offer was on Mr Trimble's plate, but he had not picked it up.
The pace of events was said to be quickening rapidly yesterday as attempts were made to bring the unionists on board. However, as the evening progressed, optimism that unionists would take the required political risk began to wane slightly.
Writing in the Belfast News Letter, Mr John Taylor, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said that any agreement emerging from the current review would have to be "underwritten and guaranteed by the Provisional IRA".
Republican sources have consistently dismissed the prospect of an IRA statement to the effect that the "war" had come to an end. However, speculation about a possible IRA statement of some kind has continued unabated.
The Stormont talks broke up at about 9.30 last night and will resume this morning.