Senior Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey has suggested that the IRA provided details of the whereabouts of Gareth O'Connor's body so that his disappearance would not distract from the expected imminent IRA statement on its future.
As forensic experts and police divers tried to establish that the body recovered from Newry Canal at the weekend was that of Gareth O'Connor, the former UUP minister accused republicans of acting "cynically".
The PSNI found the body of Mr O'Connor (24) on Saturday after police were told by a church source that his car and body were in Newry Canal, a senior source said last night.
This information was given to the church source by another party whom Sir Reg Empey believes is a member of the IRA. Sir Reg said he was glad for the O'Connor family that it appeared likely that the recovered body was that of Gareth so that they could properly grieve his death and give him a Christian burial.
Sir Reg, who is seeking the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party, added that the discovery of the body and the charges against two people relating to the murder of Robert McCartney could be interpreted as neutralising these difficult issues for republicans ahead of the expected IRA statement.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Northern Secretary Peter Hain have already indicated that an IRA reply to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams's call on the IRA to wholly embrace peace and democracy is "imminent".
Sir Reg said that the discovery of the body could be "interpreted as a tidying-up operation by republicans".
"I think this is a sort of cleaning of the stables in advance of the IRA announcement, and I think it will be seen as a cynical exercise. It is already devaluing the benefit of what republicans do," he added. Sir Reg said that "such jiggery pokery" would not wash. "These issues can't be swept under the carpet and forgotten about," he said.
A Sinn Féin spokesman was dismissive of Sir Reg's claims. He said the IRA denied any involvement in Mr O'Connor's death and that Sinn Féin believed the IRA.
Meanwhile, the O'Connor family was awaiting full confirmation that the body was that of Gareth. Mr Mark O'Connor, his father, said he was in no doubt that the IRA was behind his disappearance and death.
A senior PSNI source said police were operating on the "working assumption" that the body found in the blue Volkswagen Golf car, belonging to Gareth O'Connor, in the canal on Saturday was that of Gareth although that has not yet been formally established.
Further tests on the body and the car are continuing and police hope that they will be able to categorically identify the remains soon. Mr O'Connor, a father of two young children, disappeared in May 2003 as he was travelling to Dundalk Garda station to meet bail conditions on charges of membership of the dissident republican Real IRA.
