Loyalist paramilitary leaders of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commandos issued a statement at the weekend saying they will not deal directly with the decommissioning body set up in parallel to the Northern Ireland talks process.
Instead, they have asked the Progressive Unionist Party, led by Mr Billy Hutchinson, to represent them on the decommissioning liaison committee at the talks and for the PUP to represent them at the international body on decommissioning.
In a statement read to the PUP annual party conference in Belfast on Saturday the UVF and RHC expressed concern about leaving loyalist areas defenceless. "We cannot at this point even consider practical decommissioning," it said.
Mr Hutchinson said: "In their words they have informed me that decommissioning will only be considered when there is a vision for the future, when the republican threat has disappeared, when the Provos say that the war is over and that they respect the democratic wishes of the majority of people of Northern Ireland."
Mr Hutchinson said he was honoured to be chosen to lead the team. "It is a very dangerous position to be in but I am prepared to carry it out for the UVF and RHC and also for the PUP and for all the people of Northern Ireland."
The party leader, Mr David Ervine, told delegates the negotiating process was the only way forward. "The futility of the violence is evident. It's a war that can't be won by either side." He said he was not confident that agreement could be reached; however, he added, "I am confident that the exploration which might take us towards that agreement has begun and it seems to be going relatively calmly.
"Undoubtedly there will be days of huffing and puffing. There will be things laid on the table that are anathema to one side or the other. Nevertheless, we have to go through this pain to explore the opportunities for the future.
"Failure to explore the opportunities for the future is to copperfasten in an immoral sense that somehow or another the way we used to live our lives is the way we should live our lives. That is unacceptable," he said.
Mr Ervine said: "If you look at our conference you will see that the vast majority of the people at our conference are young. They are not old people who have to admit the failures of the past. They are people who want to focus on the benefits, the hopes, the chances for the future."
He received a standing ovation when he told delegates his desire was not to become the second-largest unionist political party in Northern Ireland but to become the biggest political party in Northern Ireland.
The party's chairman, Mr Hugh Smyth, said that if the British government could apologise for Bloody Sunday he wanted an apology for Bloody Friday and Bloody Saturday (the Shankill bomb). He said he was still haunted by the image of the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, carrying the coffin of an IRA man, Mr Thomas Begley, who was killed in the Shankill Road bomb.
He called on all unionists to unite as had nationalists, and he particularly called on the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley and Mr Robert McCartney, the UK Unionist, to take their places at the talks.
Confidence-building measures for him would be the IRA saying the war was over and that it was prepared to abide by the consent of the people of Northern Ireland and for the Irish Government to say it had no territorial claim over the North.
He said he was looking forward to a devolved government in which all sections of the community could play a part.
The prisons spokesman, Mr William Smith, said the lack of movement on loyalist prisoners three years into a ceasefire was "frustrating". "Especially when it is contrasted with the rapid movement on republican prisoners," he said.
A Dubliner, Mr Chris Hudson, chairman of the Peace Train organisation, received a standing ovation after his address to delegates at the PUP conference. He said it was important that unionists and loyalists travelled to the South to tell people their message and explain their situation.
He paid tribute to Mr Ervine. "No matter what the criticism, he was never afraid to come down to Dublin or any part of the Irish Republic to bring his message to our people."
Throughout the conference there were repeated jibes at the Democratic Unionist Party and other "rabble-rousers". A statement from UVF and Red Hand Commando prisoners at the Maze said: "The rabble-rousers, the selfstyled guardians of superloyalism, will continue to incite those prepared to listen to their fossilised rhetoric. All too often in bygone years foot soldiers have been used as cannon-fodder inflamed by firebrand speeches, forgotten by super-Prods, then denounced as common criminals."