The crisis in the northern talks has deepened as pressure grows for the expulsion of Sinn Fein over alleged breaches of the IRA ceasefire. The issue is likely to dominate the opening session of the talks when they move to Dublin next week.
No organisation admitted responsibility for this week's killings of the loyalist Robert Dougan and an alleged drug dealer, Brendan Campbell.
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, said the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, told her yesterday morning he was not yet ready to draw conclusions as to who was responsible for the two latest murders. She promised to release his findings as soon as she received them.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said the ceasefire had not been broken. He told BBC Radio Ulster that from "all the information that is at my command at this moment in time I have to tell you that the IRA cessation still holds".
Speaking in London, the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, made clear that his party would be pressing strongly in Dublin to have Sinn Fein expelled. "There is no way it is going to be business as usual on Monday," he told a Westminster news conference.
There was speculation in Belfast that at least one of the shootings might have been a "maverick" action carried out by IRA members acting without the sanction or approval of their leaders.
The Alliance Party has asked Dr Mowlam to open the Dublin talks with a detailed report on the security situation, "including intelligence assessments of what organisations have been responsible for recent acts of violence".
Dr Mowlam came under pressure in the House of Commons over alleged IRA involvement in the killings. She said it had been "widely asserted" that paramilitaries linked to parties in the talks were involved in the killings, "but that fact has not been reliably established." She continued: "If and when it is, the Government will not hesitate to act to determine whether the party concerned has demonstrably dishonoured its commitment to the Mitchell Principles." Mr Trimble said it was "fairly clear" to everybody who was responsible for the latest murders.
"There will be certain conclusions drawn if there is a reluctance on the part either of herself or the Chief Constable to face up to the inevitable." The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, signalled that proof of IRA involvement would mean removal of Sinn Fein. "But let's wait and see exactly what the investigations uncover," he said.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr McLaughlin, challenged the notion that the opinion of the RUC Chief Constable could be used as a basis for expelling Sinn Fein.
"I certainly don't think that anywhere within the rules and procedures is the opinion of the RUC Chief Constable the litmus test of acceptability or otherwise," he said.
He rejected the comparison with the Ulster Democratic Party, which remains excluded because of the activities of paramilitary associates in the UDA. The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams claimed the RUC was "managing the media" by telling journalists off the record that men questioned about Tuesday's killing of the loyalist Robert Dougan were "IRA suspects".
Four more men were arrested in the republican Twinbrook area of West Belfast, bringing to seven the total number being questioned at the Castlereagh interrogation centre over the killing of Robert Dougan. It is understood no weapons were recovered after the two shootings but ballistic tests were being carried out in an attempt to establish the type of guns used and whether they had been fired in previous attacks. Forensic tests were being carried out on a car believed to have been used by the killers of Mr Dougan.
The SDLP deputy leader, Mr Seamus Mallon, said he was unaware of any intelligence which suggested who was responsible for the killings. He added that if the use or threat of violence could be linked to any party in the talks then that party must face expulsion as had happened in the case of the UDP.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the ground rules of the talks must be applied "without fear or favour". All parties in the talks would be treated in the same way. "It has worked well, and it is what I would adhere to, regardless of who was involved."
Government sources also believed that a statement from the RUC Chief Constable was almost inevitable before the talks moved to Dublin next week.