IICD: Blair received no extra detail of IRA arms

The head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning has confirmed that the Irish and British Governments were not given any more information than the public about the destruction of IRA arms on Tuesday.

The confirmation is further embarrassment for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has repeatedly suggested he had been privy to details of the decommissioning act that were not revealed to the public.

In a speech to the British House of Commons, Mr Blair hinted that Canadian General John de Chastelain, the head of the IICD, had given him more details about the destruction of arms.

Mr Blair said he believed unionists would have been happy with the IICD report if they knew the extra details that he had been given.

When the DUP revealed yesterday that the IICD had not given Mr Blair any additional details, Downing Street issued a statement denying that the Prime Minister had misled the parliament.