The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, will meet the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at 10 Downing Street this afternoon with the future of the Stormont talks process in balance. Mr Trimble sought the crisis talks with Mr Blair after a plenary session at Stormont yesterday during which the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, failed to satisfy the UUP on the government's proposals for handling the decommissioning issue, or to alleviate the party's concerns about the continuing contacts between British government officials and Sinn Fein.
Although the UUP stressed it had not joined the DUP and the UK Unionist Party, in a walkout, senior unionist sources last night said they believed the UUP's continued participation in the talks was in serious doubt. The talks have reached another critical juncture with the coming six days set to determine if a new IRA ceasefire is in prospect and if the main Ulster Unionist Party will engage in substantive negotiations with Sinn Fein.
The DUP and the UK Unionist Party walked out of yesterday's plenary session of the talks, complaining that while Sinn Fein Fein could get clarification on various issues from the British government, they could not get proper elucidation of the British and Irish governments' position on paramilitary disarmament.
The two parties were also angered by further British government confirmation that in the event of an unequivocal IRA ceasefire Sinn Fein could enter substantive talks without republican arms first being handed over.
They and the Ulster Unionist Party expressed annoyance that the British and Irish governments were not specific about what parallel decommissioning means. Unionists fear that the two governments will try to fudge the issue to facilitate Sinn Fein's entry to talks.
The UUP also withdrew from the plenary session yesterday evening, although Mr David Trimble insisted his party was not abandoning the talks. He also wants further clarification from the British government and is due to meet the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, today to discuss the British Irish paper on decommissioning.
The three unionist parties, in contrast to the SDLP, the loyalist fringe parties and the five other parties to the talks, were unhappy with a 10-page clarification paper on decommissioning presented to the plenary session by the British Political Development Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, yesterday.
Mr Murphy would not elaborate on the paper, which particularly infuriated the DUP and UK Unionists, and to a lesser extent Mr Trimble and the UUP, because it did not specify the timetable for paramilitary disarmament. While there is great unionist suspicion, Mr Trimble has indicated some preparedness to maintain a position independent from the Rev Ian Paisley's party and Mr Robert McCartney's UK Unionists.
All sides recognise that the likelihood of a new IRA ceasefire hinges on whether decommissioning can be dealt with, at the very least, some time during substantive talks, as the Mitchell report recommends. The coming days will determine whether the UUP could live with such a situation. Any agreement on the decommissioning proposals must have the support of the UUP and SDLP.
Plenary talks resume on Monday until Wednesday when a vote on the British-Irish decommissioning paper, possibly with some amendments, must be taken. Following the walkout by the DUP and UK Unionists, it is unclear if they will attend these talks. Mr Trimble indicated yesterday that his party would be at Stormont.
While the UUP has moved from a position of demanding prior IRA decommissioning to a stage where it appears to accept that in the event of a credible IRA ceasefire Sinn Fein can enter substantive negotiations, Mr Trimble denied it has softened its position.
"Sinn Fein had better be aware of the fact if it is coming in on September 15th, it is coming in with the expectation that it immediately starts disarming and that all the mechanisms will be in place to facilitate that", he said.
