The Sinn Fein MP Mr Martin McGuinness has said that the British government must revoke the suspension of the North's political institutions in the light of Gen John de Chastelain's second positive report on the prospects of Provisional IRA decommissioning.
He described the suspension decision as "absolute lunacy". Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "The British government do not have the right to say that what Gen de Chastelain said was not enough.
"Gen de Chastelain was given a very important job and on Friday he said that he could report valuable progress. Those are his words, not mine. In my opinion that should have been accepted by the British government. It was rejected by the British government.
"We have ended up in the ludicrous situation where Peter Mandelson is effectively telling Gen de Chastelain and his international commission to pack their bags and go.
"The way out of this is for the British government to climb down from their position, to accept the de Chastelain report and to move to rescind the suspension order and to re-establish the institutions." The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, yesterday challenged the Provisional IRA to make a clear, unambiguous statement on decommissioning. He referred to speculation that Gen de Chastelain's commission was in possession of more information from the Provisional IRA than was contained in its report last Friday.
Mr Trimble claimed the speculation put the general in "an invidious and possibly compromising position". He said: "His integrity could be undermined while such speculation continues. Since Gen de Chastelain might be inhibited from revealing the contents of private conversations, the onus falls upon the republican movement to come out publicly and reveal what promises it gave to the commission.
"Is it true, as Mr Ahern has said, that the IRA have now given a formal commitment to decommission? If so, will they now address the question of how and when it will occur?"
The Alliance leader, Mr Sean Neeson, is seeking a meeting with Gen de Chastelain to discuss the arms situation. "The priority must now be for the decommissioning commission to continue discussions with the IRA and other paramilitaries in order to achieve the necessary progress," he said.
"Alliance is seeking to gauge to what extent the encouraging statements from the IRA, in the second de Chastelain report, are a basis for progress."