Northern Ireland Secretary of State Dr John Reid is to invite pro-Agreement parties to talks in a bid to defuse tension after Ulster Unionists threatened to quit the power-sharing government.
The threat of tough sanctions on republicans emerged at a weekend meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. It set Sinn Fein a January 18th deadline to guarantee the IRA will disband.
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If Mr Trimble is not satisfied of Sinn Fein's commitment to democracy he has vowed to take his Ulster Unionists out of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Dr Reid has urged all sides to remember what is at stake. "I just hope that everyone will remember not only what they need for their side of the community, but what we would all lose if this process falters, he said.
Mr Trimble's party has also vowed to end its involvement in meetings of the North South Ministerial Council involving Sinn Fein ministers.
Sinn Fein President Mr Gerry Adams denounced the plan as a "wrecker's charter".
Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley also denounced the move as "another pathetic stunt to deceive the electorate and boost the UUP at the polls".
Mr Paisley said: "The Northern Ireland Assembly must be dissolved to allow fresh elections. It is clear that the current arrangements are lurching from one crisis to another.
SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan said supporters of the Agreement were deeply angry at the Ulster Unionists' move, which had created a deep crisis in the political process.
"People cannot understand why all of that should now be jeopardised on the basis of the latest position adopted by the UUP," he said.
PA