Report proposes paramilitaries destroy arms or hand them over to international body

A "road map for decommissioning" circulated to the talks participants yesterday evening chiefly proposes that paramilitary groups destroy their own weapons, or else hand them over to the international disarmament body for destruction.

The confidential document from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, which has been seen by The Irish Times, envisages that Commission personnel will deal directly with members of the IRA, UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando, which are all observing ceasefires.

A number of assurances in the 14-page document that any guns or explosives handed over will not be subject to forensic tests are likely to particularly anger unionists. The decommissioning process should not expose individuals to prosecution, it states.

"Decommissioned items will remain under the control of the Commission from the time they are made available until the Commission certifies they have been destroyed," adds the report, which was written by the Commission chairman, Gen John de Chastelain, and his co-chairmen, the US diplomat Mr Donald Johnson and Brig Tauno Nieminen of Finland.

The political parties will discuss the report at Stormont on Tuesday.

There is an acceptance in the document, entitled an Initial Report on the mechanics and verification procedures for paramilitary disarmament, that ultimately it is for the paramilitaries themselves to decide whether or not to hand over weapons.

And while Gen de Chastelain has previously said that, regarding a political settlement, he sees disarmament as the "last piece of the jigsaw" there is nonetheless a strong recommendation that the paramilitaries should make a gesture on arms.

"It is our strong hope that those with illegal weapons can find the necessary political will to take the first steps forward along the road to decommissioning," the report says. "Even modest mutual steps on decommissioning could help create the atmosphere needed for further steps in a progressive pattern of mounting trust and confidence."

The process must ensure that decommissioning "should suggest neither victory nor defeat".

The chairmen describe their proposals as a possible "road map for decommissioning". "It is up to those who hold the illegal weapons to decide whether they are ready to take further risks for peace. If they are prepared to walk down the road we have traced, they have our word: we shall walk down the same road together, we are prepared to share its difficulties and dangers, and we will jointly celebrate the achievement," they add.

The Commission puts four proposals for disarmament, which were originally suggested by the first Independent Decommissioning Body led by Mr George Mitchell two years ago. They are: weapons transferred by paramilitaries to Commission or representatives of British and Irish governments; weapons deposited at agreed collection or destruction points; weapons collected by Commission or governments' representatives as a result of information supplied by paramilitaries; armaments destroyed by paramilitaries with the verification of the Commission.

The Commission believes that its work will centre on the last two options. It views disarmament happening over four general phases: contact with paramilitaries leading to agreement; "deployment" to decommissioning sites; verification and destruction; and "post-decommissioning stand-down and reporting".