THE Ulster Unionist Party executive has been told by its leader, Mr David Trimble, that no breakthrough had been achieved so far in the Castle Building negotiations and the party policy of "no guns - no government" had not altered.
Leaving yesterday's meeting at the party's headquarters, anti-Agreement Ulster Unionist MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson said no deal would be struck unless republicans agreed to arms decommissioning.
"We were told there is no deal at the moment and unless there's movement by republicans it is unlikely there will be a deal," he said.
Mr Trimble left the meeting after an hour and returned to Stormont for further meetings with Sinn Fein and the review facilitator, Senator George Mitchell. There is speculation Mr Mitchell could return to the US as early as today, signalling an end to this stage of the process.
As members arrived for yesterday's meeting of the 110-strong executive, some were vocal in their opposition to any movement by Mr Trimble away from the party's policy of "no guns - no government".
UUP MP Mr William Thompson, who is also opposed to the agreement, said a departure from the policy would signal "an end" to the party.
The UUP honorary secretary, Mr Jim Rodgers, said he wanted decommissioning to begin before the formation of an executive.
"I don't approve of all this talk about sequencing. Ask the ordinary man or woman on the street and they don't even know what it means. Let's get the guns on the table, then we'll look at things," he said.
According to Mr Rodgers, some party members were worried by information they had received indicating that a deal was about to be done, "maybe not this weekend but in the days and weeks that lie ahead, and I for one will not be supporting anything other than our present policy".
Another anti-Agreement Ulster Unionist MP, Mr William Ross, said there was a "widespread suspicion" in the unionist community that Mr Trimble would settle for a deal that would fall short of the party's demand.
"If he felt that he could no longer adhere to party policy, then he would have to start considering his own position, wouldn't he? That follows as naturally as night follows day," he added.
After the meeting, Mr Thompson said the party's position had been "reaffirmed" and "the party itself does believe that the leader will stick to its policy".
The deputy UUP leader, Mr John Taylor, who attended the meeting, said in a statement yesterday that any politician who declared that there was no alternative to the Belfast Agreement was not worthy to be a politician and should resign.
Mr Trimble has repeatedly stated that there is no alternative to the accord. Mr Taylor later clarified that his statement was "certainly not" a call for Mr Trimble's resignation and alternatives to the Belfast Agreement should not be considered by the party leader "at this stage".
He told The Irish Times the current review could still succeed and the "jumping together" scenario should not be ruled out.
"I want to see the current thing work. It could still be the way forward," added Mr Taylor, who withdrew from the party's negotiating team some weeks ago, saying he did not believe the Provisional IRA intended to decommission.
A spokesman for Mr Trimble described yesterday's executive meeting as low-key. "There are no proposals on the table, so there was no debate on any specific matters," he added.