THE Alliance party is arguing that decommissioning should be dealt with in parallel to substantive negotiations and should not be an impediment to progress.
In its submission on decommissioning to the multi party talks at Stormont a fortnight ago, the party took a different view to the unionist parties, who believe that there should be actual decommissioning before substantive negotiations.
The Alliance deputy leader, Mr Seamus Close, accused the unionist parties of not dealing pragmatically with the issue and "digging themselves into trenches".
The party stated that while there must be some link between decommissioning and the negotiations, it was doubtful whether a "direct coupling" would be helpful.
"There would be a real danger if progress on the substantive political track was too directly related to progress in the decommissioning track on an item by item, rather - than in a general sense.
"This would be a recipe for endless delays and arguments. It would also suggest that unless there was progress on decommissioning - and in the absence of an IRA ceasefire, there will be none - some other matters, such as policing, could not be addressed at all."
Alliance proposed that an international commission be set up to deal with decommissioning.
The party said that by accepting the Mitchell Principles the parties had committed themselves to exclusively democratic means. They had pledged to "abide by any agreement produced, not to seek to challenge any aspect of it through force of arms and to verifiable decommissioning".
Alliance stated that the possession of illegal arms was a symptom of the conflict and not the essence of it.
"Decommissioning cannot of itself resolve a dispute," the paper said.
"Decommissioning cannot therefore be reliably pursued in isolation as the means to ensure a peaceful society. Its main value lies in the trust and confidence that it can generate for a genuine political process," Alliance said.
"Given the suffering of all sections of the community over the past 25 years, and the hurt, anger and fear which are the inevitable residue of that experience, it is vital that the whole community be satisfied that there can be no going back to violence if trust is to be established and lasting political progress achieved."