Loyalists urged to decommission or lose legal rights

The British government has warned loyalists that they must begin decommissioning their arms or the rights they have under current legislation will be ended and the decommissioning body wound up.

The UVF and UDA are refusing to surrender any of their weapons even though the IRA has decommissioned its entire arsenal.

At first, loyalists said they would not decommission because the IRA refused, but now they say they fear republican dissidents or they need the guns to combat criminal gangs.

£9m of taxpayers' money has been spent in Ireland and Britain on the decommissioning process and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward warned yesterday that the process would not be allowed to continue forever.