Mr David Trimble has effectively challenged the DUP to produce an agreement out of the Leeds Castle negotiations in Kent that at a minimum would match what Ulster Unionists were expecting from Sinn Féin and the IRA last October.
At Leeds Castle yesterday the Ulster Unionist leader responded to persistent demands from the DUP to outline what the UUP agreed during the aborted sequenced deal of last October that was designed to restore devolution. In so doing he implicitly put it up to the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, to exit the castle with an equal or better deal.
"I confirm that we demanded an inventory and percentage of weapons already destroyed; a timetable for the destruction of the remainder of the arsenal, together with a clear and unambiguous statement from the IRA that the war is over. These were prerequisites to any deal," said Mr Trimble.
He also set out the type of statement he was seeking from the IRA last October to demonstrate that the use of force was at an end. He required a form of words along the lines: "The republican movement accepts that the Belfast Agreement represents the democratic will of the peoples of the island of Ireland and is committed to the full implementation of the agreement in all its aspects. Our strategies and actions will be directed towards this objective.
"In this context the republican movement affirms that the armed struggle is concluded and will not be resumed. The republican movement will at all times adhere to the principles of democracy and non-violence and to the fundamental principles of human rights."
Decommissioning and the effective standing down of the IRA, confirmed by a statement, would open "up a number of possibilities and should get a positive response from unionists," said the UUP leader yesterday.
In explaining what the UUP expected from the collapsed October negotiations and by proposing a form of words he required from the IRA Mr Trimble set the minimum benchmark for what the DUP must achieve from these talks.
Mr Trimble also said that the restoration of relations between Libyan leader Col Muammar Gadafy and the West had allowed the British and Irish governments develop a better estimation of the total IRA inventory of weapons.
Senior republican sources have argued in the past that one of the main reasons why Gen John de Chastelain's decommissioning body should not publish details of weapons disarmed so far by the IRA is because even the republican movement does not have a full inventory.
They said they feared that even were the IRA to disarm fully unionists would claim the organisation still had more weapons.
Mr Trimble said it was possible, however, to establish a detailed account of IRA arms and explosives, and that the British and Irish governments should publish their estimated inventory of republican weapons.
"Following the restoration of relations with Libya both governments know the precise amount of weapons supplied to the IRA by Col Gadafy. Together with the information obtained by the intelligence services, a clear picture must be emerging of the total IRA inventory of weapons," he said.
"Gen de Chastelain must free himself from his vow of silence to the IRA to allow him to confirm the percentage of weapons that have already been decommissioned, and then tell us the length of time that will be needed to destroy the remainder of the weapons," added Mr Trimble.
"The people of Northern Ireland are entitled to know the volume of weapons still to be decommissioned and the time required to complete the process."
Mr Trimble also said that while there could be modifications to the Belfast Agreement he would not tolerate any changes that would split the unified office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.
He said the office was designed to reflect attempts to heal sectarian divisions and any dilution of the office would instead cement sectarianism.
