Sinn Fein has rejected remarks by the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, in which he placed the responsibility for resolving the arms issue primarily on republicans. The party's North Belfast MLA, Mr Gerry Kelly, said Dr Reid could not abdicate his or his government's responsibility for the matter.
"Not for the first time has this Secretary of State, like his predecessor, Peter Mandelson, sought to lay the primary responsibility for dealing with the arms issue at the door of Sinn Fein.
"It appears that part of the job description of British Secretaries of State is that they need not read the Good Friday Agreement," Mr Kelly said.
"The agreement is very explicit on this issue. It says that it is the collective responsibility of all the parties and the two governments, equally, to create the conditions in which this issue can be dealt with."
Sinn Fein had "worked harder than anybody" to fulfil its obligations under the Belfast Agreement. It was now time for the Northern Secretary to acknowledge it was the nationalist community which was suffering most at the hands of loyalists, the Sinn Fein MLA insisted.
Meanwhile, the SDLP has called on both governments to ensure the forthcoming talks do not convey the impression of "secret deals". RO] A party MLA, Mr Tommy Gallagher, said it was equally important to resolve the other issues such as demilitarisation and policing.
"The expressed will of the people of Ireland is for an inclusive government with no section of the community under threat. This means the threat posed by illegal weapons, no matter who holds them, has to be removed.
"It also means that this part of Ireland must have an acceptable police force, and, of course, it means that the process of demilitarisation must be completed," he added.
The SDLP's Agriculture Minister, Ms Brid Rodgers, yesterday echoed calls by senior SDLP members placing the onus of disarmament on Sinn Fein.
"Republicans have sought and have been granted confidence-building measures throughout the process. Therefore they more than anyone must understand and respect the need for such measures and provide the pro-agreement unionist community with similar confidence-building steps.
"Their repeated commitment to initiate a process of decommissioning and their repeated failure to do so has clearly sapped the confidence of pro-agreement unionists.
"The political process, which republicans claim to support, cannot and will not survive unless the need for confidence-building within both communities is recognised or acted upon," Ms Rodgers concluded.