The last remaining armed loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have pledged to decommission all their weapons within six months, the British Government announced today.

THE Government has welcomed the announcement by loyalist groups that they have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule.

The Ulster Defence Association will not receive public money in exchange for destroying weapons, the North’s deputy First Minister said today.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule, it was announced today.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North today confirmed they have started to decommission their weapons.

Three loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have started to decommission their weapons after painstaking behind-the-scenes efforts to secure disarmament.

A LOYALIST ceasefire in the north is to be recognised, the Northern Ireland secretary said yesterday.

A loyalist ceasefire in the North is to be recognised, the Northern Secretary said today.

A loyalist ceasefire in North is to be recognised, the Northern Ireland Secretary said today.

STEPHEN PAUL, who was shot dead in Belfast on Saturday, was a father at 14.

FIGHTING loyalists forced a judge to abandon plans to deliver a verdict at a tense murder trial in Belfast yesterday.

Fighting loyalists forced a judge to abandon plans to deliver a verdict at a tense murder trial in Belfast today.