LONDON, July 22: Britain denied as ``wholly false'' an Ulster Unionist claim that the government had made a secret deal with the Irish Republican Army in return for the IRA ceasefire that began yesterday.

Ulster Unionist party leader David Trimble had charged the government with ``duplicity,'' claiming it had promised the IRA in a secret letter that no arms would have to be surrendered before a final settlement in Northern Ireland.

The suggestion that ``there has been some sort of secret deal with the IRA....is just absolutely wrong,'' a Downing Street spokesman said. ``There is no such deal with anybody.''

The spokesman reiterated the government position on the critical point of arms surrender, saying it should occur in parallel to talks and not as a precondition for participation of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein.

Trimble later told mediapersons that he'd won no concessions but spoke of ``some possibilities of progress.''

``We will not shirk our responsibilities. We are not in the mode of walking out, we're there to try and achieve things,'' said Trimble. His party got 32.7 percent of the Northern Ireland vote in May's national elections, the largest share of any party.

The British and Irish governments, which cosponsor the talks, have drawn up rules for when the IRA must start disarming during negotiations, the longtime Protestant demand that the IRA insists will never happen.

The rules are supposed to be put to a vote Wednesday, but Trimble says he'll torpedo them because they call only for due progress'' towards IRA disarmament ``but no guarantees that the British government will expel Sinn Fein if the IRA doesn't cough up guns or explosives at a specific point.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.