The prospects for achieving complete decommissioning by the May 22nd deadline set down in the Belfast Agreement were poor, but decommissioning remained an essential part of the peace process, the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, told MPs during Northern Ireland Questions in the Commons yesterday.
He said no single party could unilaterally change the terms of the agreement and there were "two extreme views" of the consequences if decommissioning was not achieved.
Mr Mandelson said the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, seemed to be suggesting that decommissioning should be forgotten. "Others say that it must mean the end of the agreement altogether. I think that both those views are completely wrong. Decommissioning won't go away. It remains an essential part of the peace process and of the Good Friday agreement. The only way to achieve decommissioning is through the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement and that's what we continue to work on."
Asked by the Ulster Unionist deputy leader, Mr John Taylor, if the assembly would remain in suspension after May 22nd, the Northern Secretary replied "no" and said he hoped all the institutions would be reactivated "long in advance" of the deadline.
He said it was "absolutely imperative" that the resumption of all the institutions under the agreement was achieved and that decommissioning could be settled to everyone's satisfaction. "Only in that way will we be able to accommodate the deadline of May 22nd in the context of functioning institutions."
The shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, called on Mr Mandelson to publicly apologise to the British army and the families of soldiers killed during the Troubles for his "disgraceful" remark last week in which he referred to a section of the British army as "chinless wonders".
Mr Mandelson said he had "absolutely no hesitation" in expressing his regret for the remark once again. However, he accused Mr Mackay of "slightly egging the pudding" over the issue. "I think he is being a little harsh in that he will accept that every politician is allowed the occasional gaffe, if only to remind the public that they're still human."
Earlier, a 100,000-signature petition calling on the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to open an independent inquiry into the murder of the lawyer Ms Rosemary Nelson, was handed into Downing Street by her friends and supporters.