Loyalist UVF 'destroys weapons'

The UVF has started to decommission One of Northern Ireland's main loyalist paramilitary groups has decommissioned what is understood to be a "significant" quantity of weapons. The government was told of the UVF move by General John de Chastelain, head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). It is understood General de Chastelain watched the act in the past week. BBC home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said the amount of weaponry put beyond use was still not exactly known. "My understanding is that General de Chastelain and a number of independent witnesses visited at least one arms dump in the past week or so and witnessed weapons being put beyond use," he said. "I am told the general then briefed the Northern Ireland Office on what happened. "The only people who know exactly what was decommissioned are the UVF leadership, the general and his team and those eye witnesses. "I understand the general has a statement ready, but they can't issue it until authorised to do so by the UVF leadership." Four years ago the IRA put its weapons "beyond use" in decommissioning witnessed by two churchmen. The move comes ahead of Secretary of State Shaun Woodward's August deadline for significant progress on loyalist arms. Mr Woodward said if loyalist decommissioning was confirmed, it would show that politics in Northern Ireland was working. He said it would vindicate his decision to persevere with the decommissioning scheme rather than listening to those who had argued he should give up and not renew the relevant legislation. Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the move was "good news" which he thought was "very significant". The commission said it "expected to be reporting to the government at the end of August". Peter Robinson said the DUP had been in discussions with the UVF Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson said any move by loyalists towards decommissioning would be "welcome". "Over the last nine months the DUP has been engaged in ongoing discussions with both the UDA and UVF leaderships," he said. "The objective of the discussions has been to assist the organisations' transformation from paramilitary organisations into people who are playing their full part in a peaceful and democratic Northern Ireland with violence and criminality being firmly a thing of the past." He said they were aware the groups had been engaging with the IICD, but said they did "not want to pre-empt the outcome of this process". Politics Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly said that, if the news proved to be true, his party welcomed it. "It is also important that other armed organisations go down this road," he said. "Politics is now working and there is no basis for any organisation holding onto arms." Leader of the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) Dawn Purvis said she was not able to confirm decommissioning had taken place. She said, however, that loyalists had been involved in ongoing contacts with the IICD. "That is to be welcomed," she said. "That is where the process of decommissioning has to be dealt with." The UVF was formed in 1966 and is believed to have murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles. In 2007 it declared that it was renouncing violence. The UVF announced just over two years that it had put its weapons beyond the reach of its membership. The Ulster Defence Association has also been engaged in a series of meetings with the general, but it is not yet clear if the organisation has started the process of decommissioning.