The head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), Gen John de Chastelain, has confirmed that the IRA arms dumps re-inspected by the two international inspectors had not been tampered with since their first inspection in June.
In a statement, Gen de Chastelain said a report by the inspectors, a former Finnish president, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, and Mr Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress confirmed that they had carried out their second inspection of the dumps, which held "a substantial amount of military material, including explosives and related equipment".
The statement continued: "They [Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Ramaphosa] also confirmed that the dumps had not been tampered with and remained secure." While the commission could not report progress on actual decommissioning since the first inspection of IRA weapons caches in June and the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Freedom Fighters' earlier acceptance of methods of decommissioning, the IICD welcomed the inspectors' latest report and looked forward to further such reports, the statement said.
"We also welcome the fact that the IRA, UVF and UFF maintain their contact with the commission and the IRA's reaffirmation of its commitment to resolving the issue of arms. In the meantime, we will continue to concentrate our efforts on furthering our sole mandate, the decommissioning of paramilitary arms," it concluded.
The statement confirmed that since the IICD's last contact with republicans at the end of June there had been no further contact, partly due to the marching season in July and August, until in early September the commission made fresh efforts to meet both republican and loyalist paramilitaries. These meetings failed to materialise.
"On the republican side, this was attributed in part to concerns over the implementation of the Patten report on policing, to the slow pace of demilitarisation and to concerns over republicans wanted for questioning by the authorities.
"On the loyalist side, they were attributed in part to the failure of the IRA to respond to the commission in practical terms on decommissioning as well as to internal problems associated with the ongoing loyalist feud."
Last week the IICD informed political parties that it had scheduled a meeting with ministers from both governments for this week to deliver a progress report. It stressed the urgency of meeting with the paramilitary representatives before that date.
On October 17th the commission met UFF representatives who informed it that despite being committed to the Belfast Agreement in principle, they would not begin decommissioning their arms until the IRA had started to hand over theirs. Gen de Chastelain and his colleagues had not been able to renew their contacts with the IRA, but in the light of the Provisionals' statement would continue to strive for such a meeting to determine whether "putting arms beyond use" met the IICD's mandate for arms destruction.
The IICD had not met a UVF representative since June, although telephone contact was reestablished in September and October, the statement said.
In their statement to Gen de Chastelain, Mr Ahtisaari and Mr Ramaphosa said the weapons observed at the second inspection "continued to be safely and adequately stored," adding: "We remain confident that the weapons and explosives cannot be used without our detection.
"The IRA has fully honoured their commitments and complied with the terms of our engagement and we are convinced that we will receive the same co-operation in future re-inspections."