Democratic Unionist Party leader the Rev Ian Paisley said today he was not convinced that the IRA had destroyed its arsenal of weapons because there was no transparent verification.
"We do not know how many guns, the amount of ammunition and explosives that were decommissioned, nor were we told how the decomissioning was carried out," he told a Belfast press conference this afternoon.
"This afternoon the people of northern Ireland watched a programme which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA," Mr Paisley said.
Mr Paisley said the announcement by General de Chastelain did not meet the requirements of proof the unionist people demanded.
The promises of British Prime Minister Tony Blair that decommissioning would be transparent and verifiable had been broken, he said.
Mr Paisley and his party are crucial to any progress with the political process and he made it clear he was unimpressed with the announcement as a means of kick-starting progress.
"Instead of openness there was the cunning tactics of a cover up, the complete failure from general John de Chastelain to deal with the vital numbers of decommissioning.
He said the 'so called' independent witnesses were "appointed by the IRA".
And he said not one iota of evidence had been given to verify that what the IRA had told the IICD was accurate. Deputy leader Peter Robinson said the party was "underwhelmed" by today's events.
Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said what appeared to have been a significant development in terms of decommissioning had failed to maximise public confidence.
He said it was imperative that not only arms were decommissioned but that the "dismantling of the republican movement's criminal empire is also completed".
Speaking from Brighton where he was attending the Labour Party conference, Sir Reg said: "Unionists remain to be convinced of the Republican movement's commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means."