Irish and British government sources have played down reports of an imminent move by the IRA on arms decommissioning.
Yesterday evening Britain's PA news agency reported the IRA had decided to decommission weapons in two of its secret arms dumps.
But RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said he was not aware of any plans for imminent disarmament.
However, PA claim authoritative security sources in Belfast have said the republican leadership has already agreed to make a gesture.
The two dumps which have been examined International arms inspectors Mr Cyril Ramaposa and Mr Maarti Ahtisaari would either be sealed over or emptied and the weapons disposed of, sources said.
With yesterday's Irish Timespoll saying a majority of Sinn Fein voters now want the IRA to start putting their guns completely and verifiably beyond use, a security source said: "After America, the situation has moved into a different dimension, they (the leadership) believe it is now an even greater imperative and we expect the process to begin fairly soon. It is only a matter of time, certainly before the end of the year."
The IRA is to have more talks with General John de Chastelain, head of the decommissioning body.