The British state should acknowledge its role as "a key protagonist" in the Troubles rather than cast itself as an innocent onlooker, Sinn Féin has claimed.
Victims spokesman Francie Molloy said yesterday there should be no denying that the British government "fought a war", adding that the issue of truth recovery and the need for a healing process were "crucial matters which needed to be resolved".
The Mid-Ulster Assembly member also reiterated the party's "serious reservations" about the appointment of the Eames-Bradley consultative group which is examining the past with a view to publishing recommendations next summer.
He said there was a conflict of interest between the group's independence and the fact that it was appointed by the British government and would report back to it.
The group has begun a round of public meetings across Northern Ireland before beginning work on its report at the end of the month.
Although no proposals have been made by the group, public reaction has continued against mention of an amnesty or a declaration that the Troubles were a war rather than a breakdown of law and order.
Mr Molloy said: "There is no denying that the British government fought a war. It was a key protagonist and should rightly acknowledge its role."
Despite these concerns, he said Sinn Féin had met the group for consultation and would encourage other groups to do so.
On unionist outrage over the idea that the Troubles amounted to a war, Mr Molloy said: "It is nonsense for unionists, who have been fixated on the words 'the war is over', to now try and claim that we have lived through anything other than a war.
"The war is over, now our focus should be on winning the peace, including addressing key issues such as victims and survivors and how we deal with the past."
The process must be "victim-centred", he said, adding that the key was ensuring that there was no "hierarchy of victims".
In Brussels, independent unionist MEP Jim Allister confirmed yesterday that he had written to EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso asking him to confront Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness about paramilitary activity. Mr McGuinness, along with First Minister Ian Paisley, are in Brussels for meetings with EU institutions.
Mr Allister said: "I thought it appropriate to remind President Barroso of the pedigree of McGuinness, and to invite him to raise issues such as the McCartney murder - upon which the EU was effectively engaged by the McCartney sisters - the Quinn murder and McGuinness's opposition to the use of the European arrest warrant."