De Chastelain confident all weapons put beyond use

IN his opening remarks, Gen de Chastelain said it was vital that the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning told it “only as we saw it. We do not believe it is for us to editorialise.”

Saying that some questioned the secrecy, he pointed out that "getting armed groups to put aside their arms voluntarily, without the perception that the act is one of humiliation and blame, is not simple."

Turning specifically to his recent engagement with the IRA over the past number of weeks, he said that the IICD had "observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA's possession."