The DUP leader, Ian Paisley, has met the chairman of the North's disarmament commission, General John De Chastelain, in Belfast. Following the meeting, Mr Paisley predicted that the hand-over of paramilitary weapons would be a colossal fraud. He suggested there would be a single act of decommissioning on the part of the IRA in the form of what he called a bomb in a bog.
The Northern Ireland First Minister has called for the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons to begin as quickly as possible. David Trimble was speaking in Paris, where he was presented with the award of the Legion d'Honneur last night. Mr Trimble and the SDLP leader, John Hume, were given the award by the French government in recognition of their work in the peace process.
There is increasing speculation in the North that General John De Chastelain will soon present an interim progress report on the decommissioning issue to the British and Irish governments. This follows recent meetings with interlocutors from the IRA and the UVF. It is also believed that UFF representatives will meet the international commission tomorrow.
Reports from Belfast suggest that General De Chastelain's private report is unlikely to raise hopes, at this stage, that the IRA are considering meeting the North's First Minister David Trimble's demand for actual decommissioning to take place by the end of February.
