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.