Loyalist paramilitaries last night called on the Provisional IRA to help create the right conditions, those which could lead to the decommissioning of illegal weapons. In a statement, the UVF and Red Hand Commando said the removal of all "illegal war materials" from society was "an honourable objective", but claimed the right conditions did not exist for them to initiate a handover.
The UVF and the RHC claimed they had worked in good faith with the head of the international body on decommissioning, Gen John de Chastelain. But the Provisionals had not yet reciprocated.
In a statement to the BBC, the groups said: "We have asserted from the beginning of the current process that conditions must exist within which the process of decommissioning can occur. At this moment in time, such conditions do not exist and therefore the leadership of the UVF and RHC are unable to sanction any act of actual decommissioning."
The organisations insisted their actions were carried out in good faith. They had spelt out unambiguously the conditions needed to facilitate the process of arms removal, they said.
The statement continued: "The responsibility lies with republicans to bring the necessary conditions into practice. To do so would require a complete end to republican tyranny in both its political and military mantles. Until such times, the onus lies with them."
Mr Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, said there was "a lot of positivity" in the statement.