THE International Body on Decommissioning, still working through a backlog of meetings with interested parties, yesterday gave itself a six day extension of its tight schedule and announced that its report would be released next Wednesday, January 24th.
On Monday, the chairman of the body, former US Senator Mr George Mitchell, had admitted that a slight delay was likely, but insisted that this would not represent a setback.
In a statement yesterday, the body announced its revised schedule, saying that the additional time would permit it to accommodate many of the large number of requests it has received for meetings from various organisations and individuals.
It has scheduled additional meetings in Belfast, `Dublin and London from today until Friday evening and will then begin its deliberations over the weekend on its final conclusions.
The three man body will hold a press conference in Belfast next Wednesday morning to release its report. The report will be released simultaneously by the governments in London and Dublin.
Yesterday's statement added "This schedule will also give the members of the body more time to review the enormous volume of material they have accumulated, to consider carefully the issues among themselves, to make their final decisions, and to write the report."
In Dublin yesterday morning, the body had discussions with senior Army officers, including the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Gerry McMahon. It then moved to Belfast where meetings were held successively with high ranking British army officers, including the GoC in Northern Ireland, Lt Gen Sir Roger Wheeler, the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, and with the loyalist fringe parties.
Over the next few days a range of further meetings will be accommodated including, it is expected, another session with the UUP leadership.
There will be further contacts, either directly or by telephone, with the Sinn Fein leadership, and probably also final consultations with the two governments.
Following the publication of the body's report, and to review progress in preparatory talks for all party negotiations, the two governments plan another summit by mid February.
The governments are, expected to consult each other on the report prior to its publication, but sources last night said they would not be in possession of the document "for any significant length of time" in advance of its release.
Sources added that the governments have "no involvement and no control" over when the three strong group published the report, or how it would handle the release of the findings.
In its submission to the body, the Irish National Congress indicated that the peace process would collapse if the British government continued to insist on a surrender of IRA arms, arguing that demilitarisation could take place through negotiation.
Meanwhile, the first trilateral meeting involving the two governments and Sinn Fein is scheduled to take place in Belfast today.