UDA Completes Decommissioning

The act was facilitated by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) under the leadership of General John De Chastelain.

The disarmament was verified by two independent witnesses - former Church of Ireland primate Lord Eames and former top civil servant and chair of the Ulster Bank Sir George Quigley.

The UDA/UFF has been responsible for over 260 murders in the North, with most of murders being strictly sectarian. Almost 200 of the UDA's victims were targeted for the sole reason of being Catholic.

The announcement was made at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast by the UDA's political representative, the Ulster Politica Research Group (UPRG).

"Today the leadership of the Ulster Defence Association can confirm that all weaponry under its control has been put verifiably beyond use," UPRG leader Francie Gallagher said.

"This historic decision has been taken as a result of unprecedented consultation of all brigade areas throughou the British Isles."

Mr Gallagher said he wanted to pay tribute to former UDA members who had died or been imprisoned during the Troubles: "To all those in the community who have lost loved ones, we understand and we share in your sense of loss but we are determined and are willing to play our full part in ensuring that tragedy of the last 40 years will never happen again."

He said the move paved the way for a new future for the North and helped close the door on the past: "We have fulfilled our obligations, our commitment remains intact and we trust the future for all the people of these islands will be one of equality, harmony and fulfilment and those future generations will achieve their aspirations and dreams in an environment of peace and prosperity."

The smaller Ulster Volunteer Forces and Red Hand Commando (RHC) groups put all their guns beyond use last June. The UDA is also understood to have destroyed a small number of weapons that month.

In a statement, the IICD confirmed the move: "The IICD confirms that, having started the decommissioning process with the UDA last June, we have now conducted a major act of decommissioning in which arms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices belonging to the UDA have been destroyed within the terms of our mandate," it said.

"The leadership of the UDA has informed us that these armaments constitute the totality of those under their control," it continued. "The IICD reminds paramilitary organisations which may still have arms in their possession that we have until the 9th of February this year to complete our mandate and we urge them to contact us soon to that effect."

The British Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward warned last year that legislation, which set a deadline of next month for the completion of decommissioning, would not be renewed.

Lord Eames and Mr Quigley welcomed the move: "We were very pleased to have the opportunity to be present at such a significant moment in the course of Northern Ireland's steady progress towards what can be a far better future for everyone than we have ever known before," they said.

"It is vital that what has happened should not only close an old chapter but should open a new and a very different one. Those within loyalism who have eschewed violence and criminality and who are genuinely committed to helping transform their communities need to be supported, and those communities fully integrated into the political process," they added. "It was such an approach that facilitated republicanism's successful involvement in the shaping of a new future."