THREE loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have started to decommission their weapons after painstaking behind-the-scenes efforts to secure disarmament.
In a further milestone in the development of the peace process, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is understood to have decommissioned a major weapons cache, with further disarmament moves by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Red Hand Commando
(RHC).
The British and Irish governments last night welcomed the destruction of weaponry, but said they had yet to receive official confirmation of the move from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
The loyalist groups killed hundreds of people during the decades of violence, with the UVF responsible for murders in the mid-1960s which marked the beginning of the Troubles.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward said: "If these reports were to be confirmed, what we would see would be a seismic transformation within loyalism," he said.
"What they would say is that loyalism has carried out a major act of decommissioning."
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the move was "very significant" and "a step change which shows a degree of organisation and commitment that perhaps we have not seen before."
