Arms body may be decommissioned

The body set up to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons could itself be decommissioned in under two years.

The government is considering the move as part of a process to put pressure on the UDA and UVF to disarm.

If the commission ceases to exist the loyalist groups will be treated as criminal organisations.

There will be no amnesty for moving arms and weapons could be forensically tested and used as evidence.

The international arms body, headed by General John de Chastelain, was set up in 1997.

Since then it has cost nearly £9m - almost £2,000 a day - but this is shared by the British and Irish governments.

The government renews the legislation that allows it to operate each February for a 12-month period.

The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Vincent Kearney said he understood that 2009 would be the last time it is renewed, unless the UVF and UDA begin to decommission during that time.

"The commission has overseen the decommissioning of the IRA's weapons - but the UDA and UVF have kept theirs and show no signs of changing that position," he said.

"So the government is now preparing to step up the pressure."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
NIO decommissioning information
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