The IRA has stated there is "little prospect" of further movement on disarmament until the deal brokered between the British and Irish governments, and Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists, is fully implemented.
Although the political process remains stalled over unionist doubts about the extent of last week's decommissioning, the IRA said its third act of putting weapons and explosives beyond use "involved the largest amount of arms to date".
The IRA in a statement yesterday effectively accused the UUP and its leader, Mr David Trimble, of dishonouring last week's sequencing deal, which was designed to lead to a restoration of the Executive and Assembly following elections on November 26th.
"The leadership of the IRA honoured our commitments. Others have not fulfilled theirs. This is totally unacceptable. When we give our word we keep it. We expect others to do the same," the IRA said in an official statement signed by "P. O'Neill".
"Until they do so there can be little prospect of progress on the issues they profess concern about," it added.
Former UUP minister Mr Michael McGimpsey accused the IRA of being "more than slightly disingenuous" and insisted that further detail on what was decommissioned and a timescale for full IRA disarmament was required.
"We were promised transparency on IRA decommissioning but all we got was a glimpse. We have a right to know what was decommissioned last week and we have a right to expect an IRA representative to tell Gen de Chastelain's decommissioning body when decommissioning is going to be concluded," added Mr McGimpsey.
The IRA issued its statement as the election campaign began to crank into gear and a day after the British and Irish governments conceded that any prospect of resurrecting the stalled deal must be put on hold until after polling day.
The IRA upped the ante yesterday by insisting that there was little chance of further movement until the UUP allowed the sequencing process to be concluded.
The first stages of that sequencing system were enacted last Tuesday with the British government calling elections, Mr Gerry Adams and the IRA issuing statements committing the republican movement to pursuing its political goals by peaceful means, and Gen de Chastelain confirming, but not detailing, what arms the IRA had put beyond use.
The remainder of the choreography required a commitment from Mr Trimble to maintain the institutions of the Belfast Agreement and the governments providing pledges on demilitarisation, policing and criminal justice and fugitive paramilitaries, the "on-the-runs".
The IRA implicitly blamed Mr Trimble and the UUP for last week's political debacle. "The political process these initiatives were designed to facilitate has been halted without a credible explanation from those who stopped it," its statement said.
Dublin and London said there was little of surprise in the IRA statement and noted that, despite the strong tone, the level of recrimination was relatively restrained.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, yesterday maintained that the information he and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, received from Gen de Chastelain proved that last week's decommissioning was substantial. "There was certain information given to us by Gen de Chastelain and I had hoped very much it would have been possible to provide the full information to everybody," he told the House of Commons.
