The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, has held talks with the PSNI's Acting Chief Constable, Mr Colin Cramphorn, following another night of sporadic sectarian clashes in east Belfast.
Afterwards, Mr Trimble called on Sinn Féin to rein in republican elements which, he said, were orchestrating violence on the nationalist side.
"You can't have a peace process that is constantly dogged by violence orchestrated by people who have styled themselves as prime-movers of the peace process. The question has to be asked of Gerry Adams and Alex Maskey: 'What is their organisation doing to stop this'?"
Reacting to a statement by the Sinn Féin chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, that his party was prepared to endorse the North's new police service if the British government amended legislation in line with the Patten proposals, the First Minister said: "There can be no question of Sinn Féin with any integrity moving onto the Policing Board unless it has addressed its responsibilities to stop violence from republicans."
Only minutes after a visit by Mr Trimble to loyalist Cluan Place in east Belfast yesterday afternoon stones were thrown from the nationalist Clandeboye Gardens area. In retaliation loyalists threw stones, bricks and fireworks into the nationalist Short Strand enclave.
A local Sinn Féin councillor, Mr Joe O'Donnell, criticised Mr Trimble for visiting Cluan Place but not Clandeboye Gardens. The First Minister said such a visit would not have been possible due to security reasons.
Mr Trimble said he wanted close circuit television cameras installed to help apprehend those responsible for the attacks. "I would have thought that after so many months they would have had CCTV here some time ago, especially after the benefits they have brought to other places," he added.
On Tuesday night, stones and fireworks were thrown by crowds on both sides of the wall dividing Cluan Place and Clandeboye Gardens. A police spokesman said two people were taken to hospital after an acid bomb was thrown into Cluan Place, followed by a pipe bomb which was hurled into a garden in Clandeboye Gardens in retaliation.
A local Ulster Unionist councillor, Mr Michael Copeland, denied loyalists had been responsible for the pipe bomb, while Mr O'Donnell denied the acid bomb had been thrown by nationalists.
The North's Security Minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, said a security response alone was not the solution for sectarian strife in parts of Belfast. After returning from a patrol with a PSNI unit in east Belfast on Tuesday night, Ms Kennedy said it had been important to see for herself the nightly situation the security forces and the communities were confronted with in interface areas.
"As a government we will support the police and resource them to do what is necessary for the protection of both communities. But this cannot be a one-way process. The police must have the support of the communities," she added.
Meanwhile, the British army have defused several devices in north Belfast. The first was at Glenbryn Park in the Ardoyne on Tuesday. Several other pipe bombs were found in a hedge in the nearby Ballysillan area.