Mr Martin McGuinness was today challenged to clarify what his role was in the IRA and to apologise for killings carried out by the organisation.
Democratic Unionist MLA Mr Nigel Dodds called on Mr McGuinness to outline his role in the republican paramilitary group following a report in a Sunday newspaper which claims intelligence documents show the Sinn Féin minister led the IRA's Derry Brigade for at least two years in the early 1970s.
In a draft statement sent to the Saville Inquiry this week, the North's Minister for Education claimed he was the second-in-command at the time of Bloody Sunday.
The Sunday Telegraphnewspapersaid it had seen reports compiled by British military intelligence which had been corroborated by informers, which confirmed Mr McGuinness was in charge of the Derry Brigade after the introduction of internment without trial in Northern Ireland in 1971.
The documents also showed he remained in command until 1973, the newspaper said.
The newspaper claims its documents show Mr McGuinness joined the Provisional IRA in 1970, shortly after it split from the official IRA.
Security officials were quoted as saying he had taken control of the brigade after many of its leaders were interned, including its middle-aged leader who "did not share McGuinness's thirst for action".
"McGuinness was running the IRA in Derry for at least two years. He must bear responsibility for many of the atrocities that occurred during that period."
A Sinn Féin spokesman dismissed The Sunday Telegraph'sclaims, saying the party would not respond to "spurious reports".
"Martin has already made his position clear in his statement to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry," he added.
However, North Belfast Assembly member Mr Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionists claimed the newspaper report confirmed "what many people have believed for many years, that Mr McGuinness has an enormous amount of innocent blood on his hands.
"He has never expressed any remorse for the killings carried out by the IRA while he was heavily involved in that organisation.
"In fact, many people believe he is still intimately involved in the IRA and indeed we have not heard from Mr McGuinness if or when he left the IRA.
"Mr McGuinness still has an awful lot of explaining to do and we will be pressing him on this point in the Assembly when a motion of no confidence in him as Education Minister is debated on Tuesday."
PA