Arms deadline 'should not change'

The Police Federation said loyalist paramilitaries were not going to disarm

Loyalist paramilitaries should not be given another year to decommission their weapons, the Police Federation has said.

Secretary of State Shaun Woodward has said he wanted to extend the NI Arms Decommissioning Act to 2010.

The Federation said it wanted MPs and Peers to resist the request and that loyalist paramilitaries had no intention of giving up their weapons.

The NIO said that it would be the last time the deadline would be extended.

In a letter sent to the Secretary of State the Federation's Terry Spence, which represents the 9,000 Police Service of Northern Ireland officers, said the request was "misconceived and undisguised appeasement".

"The fact is that loyalist paramilitaries have had 11 years to decommission," he said.

"Rather than a further year they should be told that they have five more weeks to 9 February, the date of the legislation deadline."

The legislation enables the body that monitors decommissioning to operate.

The Federation said it believed that there was no meaningful evidence that the UVF and particularly the UDA had any intention of surrendering their arms until forced to do so by the full weight of the law bearing down on them.

Mr Spence said that 29 officers had sought certificates from the chief constable because they were under threat and that five had been subjected to death threats by loyalists.

The Northern Ireland Office said that threats to police officers "from whatever source are completely unacceptable".

"In terms of extending the decommissioning period, this was a difficult decision but we think it was the right one and the Secretary of State has already made it clear that it will not be renewed again after 2010,'' a spokesman said.