SDLP leader Mr John Hume tonight claimed the series of loyalist pipe bomb attacks were designed to draw the IRA back into its campaign of violence.
Emerging from a meeting at Stormont with the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid, the Foyle MP said: "What is clearly behind these attacks is an attempt to provoke the IRA into starting up its campaign again.
"It is quite clear that the people who are carrying out these attacks want a complete absence of law and order on our streets and in my opinion the reason why they want it is many of them are involved not in politics but in a mafia, in the drugs trade.
"That's what these sort of activities are about in order to break down law and order completely on the streets so that these people can operate their mafia situation and I want the government to take the strongest possible steps to deal with these people."
Mr Hume had a two-hour meeting with Dr Reid which also involved Mr Seamus Mallon, South Down MP Eddie McGrady and Stormont minister Sean Farren.
The SDLP delegation said discussions would continue to resolve the difficulties over policing reforms.
"Naturally, we hope we will be making further progress," Mr Hume said.
Extra troops were ordered onto the streets of Belfast today as part of new moves to try to halt an escalating sectarian campaign of pipe bomb attacks by loyalists on Catholic families in the north of the city.
Another unexploded pipe bomb was discovered outside a house in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast just as the RUC announced the deployment of additional military resources to back up increased police mobile support units.
The UDA insisted its ceasefire is still in force, but security chiefs claim that elements within the organisation based in the lower Shankill area of Belfast is definitely involved in an effort to increase community tensions and provoke republican retaliation.
Sinn Fein tonight said the UDA unit based in the lower Shankill area, was responsible for the bombings and gun attacks.
Mr Gerry Kelly said additional resources would not help. "Putting the army into nationalist areas is going to make this situation worse, not better," he said.
But loyalists linked to the UDA insisted the organisation was not involved and claimed republicans themselves were to blame as part of a so-called "dirty tricks" campaign to smear the UDA's name.
PA