The Ulster Unionist leader, Sir Reg Empey, has criticised today's decision to 'roll over' the Policing Board for another year.
In a statement, Sir Reg said the decision by the Secretary of State, who had clearly been influenced by both Sinn Féin and Dublin, was specifically designed to make it easier for Sinn Féin to join.
He said that if the board was reconstituted now, as it was meant to be, Sinn Féin could not join for three years.
The British Army earlier began dismantling its observation post on the top of the Divis Tower flats in west Belfast.
The removal of the post is part of a two-year programme announced yesterday to scale down security in Northern Ireland after last week's IRA statement saying it was ending its armed campaign.
The tower, in Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams' constituency, is a residential building and prominent landmark on the city skyline.
But for more than two decades republicans claim it has been used by the British Army, which is based on the 18th and 19th floors, to carry out surveillance on hundreds of Catholic homes.
This afternoon army engineers began dismantling the surveillance equipment, cameras and aerials.
It is estimated the two floors will be returned to the community in around six months. Local residents have welcomed the move as a new beginning.
The leader of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation, Martin O'Prey, was murdered at Divis Tower in the early 1990s.
The DUP has said it will be seeking an urgent meeting with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, regarding the speed and scale of demilitarisation.
Party leaders are due to meet with the Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Hain, tomorrow.
