IRA 'has destroyed all its arms

[Anth]

IRA 'has destroyed all its arms'



The arms body said IRA decommissioning was now complete

The IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, the head of the arms decommissioning body has said. General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.

"We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal."

Welcoming the move, Prime Minister Tony Blair said IRA decommissioning had been "finally accomplished".

The general said: "We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA's possession.

"We have also made an inventory of them."




At the end of the process it demonstrated to us - and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us - that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned


Church witnesses





The arms included a full range of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosives, explosive substances and other arms including all the categories described in the estimates provided by the security services, he said.

"In September 2004, the commission got estimates of numbers and quantities of arms from IRA security forces in both jurisdictions.

"Our new inventory is consistent with these estimates. We are satisfied that the arms decommissioning represents the totality of the IRA's arsenal."

The IRA announced an end to its armed campaign in July.

The republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

General de Chastelain's report confirming that IRA decommissioning had been completed was given to the British and Irish governments earlier on Monday.

He described IRA decommissioning as "an important milestone towards the completion of its task to achieve decommissioning by all paramilitary groups".

FULL TEXT OF IRA STATEMENT
The leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann (IRA) announced on 28 July that we had authorised our representative to engage with the IICD to complete the process of verifiably putting arms beyond use. The IRA leadership can now confirm that the process of putting arms beyond use has been completed.


P O'Neill

The churchmen who witnessed the process were Catholic priest Father Alex Reid and ex-Methodist president Harold Good.





Their statement said: "The experience of seeing this with our own eyes, on a minute-to-minute basis, provided us with evidence so clear and of its nature so incontrovertible that at the end of the process it demonstrated to us - and would have demonstrated to anyone who might have been with us - that beyond any shadow of doubt, the arms of the IRA have now been decommissioned."

The churchmen said they regarded IRA decommissioning as an "accomplished act".

General de Chastelain, Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen - the commissioners of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning - have been in Ireland overseeing the latest round of decommissioning since the beginning of September.



ARMS INVENTORY
Ammunition
Rifles
Machine guns
Mortars
Missiles
Handguns
Explosives



Prime Minister Tony Blair said the completion of decommissioning was "an important step in the transition from conflict to peace in Northern Ireland".

"The true importance of today is that these weapons can never again be used to inflict suffering and create more victims," he added.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said that it was a "landmark development" and appealed to unionists not to "underestimate the importance" of the move.

"The weapons of the IRA are gone, and are gone in a manner which has been verified and witnessed," he said.

However, unionists are unhappy there has been no photographic evidence of decommissioning and reacted with scepticism to the report.

DUP assembly member Maurice Morrow said he felt it would still take years before devolution could be restored.

"We haven't heard anything here today which is going to convince unionists that this is for real," he said.

In a statement the Ulster Unionist Party said it regretted that the move had "failed to maximise public confidence".

"It is imperative that the movement's criminal empire be dismantled as well," it said.

Full BBC Article

[Woodmonkey]

That's what they say and I hope they are being truthful. Now .. what about the UDL?

[filthybeast]

While I do think that the IRA gave up some of there arms I cannot believe they gave up All of there weapons. Sorry I just cannot go for it.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by filthybeast

While I do think that the IRA gave up some of there arms I cannot believe they gave up All of there weapons. Sorry I just cannot go for it.

I agree. I'm skeptical.

[Anth]

The latest on this is that the witnesses to the disarming were nominated by the IRA - bias

Weapons witnesses 'IRA-nominated'



Ian Paisley said his party now wanted to meet the government

The DUP was "shocked" by what it learned in a meeting with decommissioning chief John de Chastelain, Ian Paisley has said. He said the two church witnesses to disarmament were "IRA nominated" and the party now wants to meet them.

Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and ex-Methodist president Rev Harold Good were not appointed by the government or arms body, said Mr Paisley.

The party said the list of IRA weapons had been "revised and tampered with".

"These are the things that put a very big question over what has taken place," said Mr Paisley.

The DUP is now seeking a meeting with the British government.

It has questioned if the inventory list given by the intelligence services was accurate or "just cobbled together" for political expediency.




Mr Paisley claimed there had been a cover-up.

"We discovered that the witnesses turned up in the presence of the IRA. None of the commission heard from the government who the witnesses were," he said.

"Nor did the government certify them - they were not appointed by the government.

"It was suggested that the commission appointed them. The commission said no... they came and introduced themselves in the presence of the IRA and they said 'we are the appointed witnesses'."

Mr Paisley said he was told some of the IRA's weapons had already gone to dissident republican groups.

A DUP delegation is currently meeting the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) in Belfast.

Speaking after his party's meeting with the arms body, SDLP chairman Alex Attwood said they felt "more reassured" that what was said in relation to IRA weapons had happened.

"Everybody needs to recognise that these men are nobody's fools," Mr Attwood said.

"Anybody who thinks they can make a fool of what those three men are trying to do and what the witnesses saw happen is very badly misled and misguided."

General John de Chastelain is meeting a number of politicians

Mr Attwood said that the issue of loyalist weapons was also raised and the party had encouraged the commission to keep working to bring about a situation where loyalist paramilitaries might act.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the completion of IRA decommissioning was the result of "a lot of hard work", which was worthwhile if it brought lasting peace.

In his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference in Brighton, he said: "There's a lesson for Northern Ireland - nothing good comes easy."

Earlier on Tuesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain said unionist distrust was "natural", but the IRA's "historic move" brought the return of devolution closer.

Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness is going to the US to brief Irish Americans.

The SDLP, the Ulster Unionists and the Alliance Party have also been holding separate meetings with the general and his fellow commissioners on Tuesday.

'Sceptical and suspicious'



Mr Hain said he could understand Mr Paisley's scepticism, but asked him to respect the integrity of General de Chastelain.



"I wouldn't have expected Ian or the unionists to just bowl over and welcome everything with open arms because they've got a lot of cause to be sceptical and suspicious over the behaviour of the IRA in the past," he told BBC News on Tuesday.

"The IRA have often promised to do things and then reneged on them."

The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) reports next month and in January would consider whether the IRA was delivering on its promise to cease paramilitary and criminal activity, Mr Hain said earlier.



Gerry Adams said people need time to absorb the news



Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said he understands that Ian Paisley will need space.

"His concern is a process of change and a concern because he has lived and built a career off frightening people and on crisis, a concern that the future isn't going to be good for unionism," he said.

"The future is going to be good for everyone on this island, so we have to give Ian Paisley a wee bit of space."

The White House has welcomed the IRA's move as an "important first step" and the US State Department called on all paramilitary groups, whether loyalist or republican, to work with General de Chastelain to bring about complete disarmament.

Making his report on Monday, General De Chastelain said he had handled every gun and made an inventory of the ordnance, which was in line with estimates provided by the UK and Irish security services.

BBC Link