Sinn Féin negotiator Martin McGuinness is expected to brief US government officials and members of congress in Washington today on the IRA's plans for its future.
The Mid-Ulster MP arrived in New York from Dublin last night, accompanied by Sinn Féin's US representative Rita O'Hare, amid mounting speculation that publication of the long-awaited IRA statement was imminent.
Mr McGuinness is due to meet President Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, to spell out the implications of the IRA move. Sinn Féin has requested meetings with a number of house and senate members, including Senator Edward Kennedy, sources in Washington said.
The Massachusetts senator refused to meet Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in March in protest against the IRA murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney.
A meeting with Republican congressman Jim Walsh, head of the Friends of Ireland, is set for Capitol Hill at noon. The IRA statement will be welcomed in the US if seen as a real break with a violent past, but many Irish-American congress members will almost certainly want to see significant movement on policing and decommissioning.
Reports of the London bombings have been accompanied in the US media by reminders of the IRA bombing campaign in Britain. In the present climate, Irish-American politicians are more anxious than ever not to be associated with such actions.
The Bush administration has supported the efforts of the British and Irish governments to secure peace in Northern Ireland, and the White House reaction to the IRA statement will almost certainly reflect the advice it gets from London and Dublin regarding its significance.