Northern Ireland Secretary of State Dr John Reid is expected to meet Sinn Féin leaders on Thursday to discuss their claims he is taking a pro-unionist stance.
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Northern Ireland Secretary of State Dr John Reid
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Sinn Féin believes that since taking over from Mr Peter Mandelson Dr Reid has sought to consolidate the position of Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble.
But the Secretary of State today rejected claims he is siding with unionists by making IRA disarmament a precondition for further progress in the peace process.
Dr Reid said the political reforms achieved so far proved the British government had not put obstacles in the way of the peace process.
"I have never argued that decommissioning is a pre-condition for anything.
"It is absurd to suggest that, because if that was the case we would not have progressed with the new policing service, we would not have established the new institutions," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
But Sinn Féin is increasingly unhappy with political comments Dr Reid has made since he took over the post earlier this year.
Mr Gerry Adams accused him of pandering to unionists by backing Mr Trimble's ban on Sinn Féin ministers attending North-South meetings.
Mr Adams said: "David Trimble's fracturing of the political institutions means not only that the Sinn Féin electorate is denied its rights or that the Minister of Education and Minister of Health are prevented from doing their jobs, it also means that the All-Ireland Ministerial Council cannot meet."
Mr Martin McGuinnes accused Dr Reid of dishonesty in a recent interview in the Boston Globe.
PA