De Chastelain ‘may quit’ over IRA arms

THE head of Northern Ireland’s decommissioning body will resign rather than reveal further details of the IRA arms given up this week, it was claimed yesterday.

A delegation from the Democratic Unionist Party said General John de Chastelain told them he will resist any attempts by the Irish and British Governments to breach the confidentiality clause which the IRA invoked during its third act of decommissioning.

His report on the quantity of arms he witnessed being put beyond use was insufficient in its detail for Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble, who derailed last Tuesday's process to restore the institutions in the North.

As contacts intensified yesterday, all sides involved in the negotiations indicated a resolution of the impasse looked increasingly unlikely.

Sinn Féin says it has still not received a adequate explanation from Mr Trimble as to why he put the process on hold. The UUP now says details of the IRA decommissioning that would have been acceptable last Tuesday are no longer acceptable.

Senior UUP officials said, to restore confidence, the IRA would now need to supply an inventory of the cache, as well as detailing future decommissioning acts. Such demands would be unacceptable to the IRA, according to republican sources.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday referred to the short time scale available: "There still is a realisation .... that if we are to achieve a breakthrough we have to do it quickly.

"If not, thenit would be very hard to pull it back. We are into an election campaign and all of the difficulties that that brings."

Senior UUP members said yesterday there were no obstacles to prevent the governments from releasing more details on the arms already in their possession. However, Mr Ahern said the Governments needed to find a way to expand on the details of Tuesday's report without jeopardising future acts by the IRA.

US President George Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Richard Haass, also became involved in negotiations yesterday.

Sinn Féin confirmed Mr Adams had been in telephone talks yesterday with Mr Ahern, Mr Blair, Mr Haass and Mr Trimble.