Arms chief to confirm UVF move

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The head of the international arms body is expected to confirm within days loyalist paramilitaries have decommissioned weapons.

General John de Chastelain, head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) is believed to have witnessed the UVF move.

It is understood the Ulster Volunteer Force has put virtually all of its weapons beyond use.

The Ulster Defence Association has made a start to the process.

The paramilitary groups have still not confirmed they have decommissioned weapons, or given the general permission to confirm they have.

The UVF is believed to have destroyed all the weapons it put into centralised arms dumps two years ago.

The Red Hand Commando, a smaller loyalist group, is also believed to have put all of its weapons beyond use.

While the UDA, the largest loyalist group, has not destroyed all its weapons, it is understood the general witnessed some of its weapons being decommissioned earlier this week.

The leaderships of the three groups are expected to meet on Friday to decide if they will issue a joint statement on what has happened.

Reverend Harold Good witnessed IRA decommissioning

The general is due to make a formal report to the British and Irish governments in August, but could issue a brief statement within days.

One of the ministers who witnessed the destruction of IRA weapons in 2005 has welcomed reports of loyalist decommissioning.

Rev Good, ex-president of the Methodist church, said the time was right.

"Like everyone else, I am very relieved and very pleased to hear this news," he said.

"We are still waiting for final confirmation, but I think from everything we are hearing about this act of decommissioning on the part of the loyalists, it is certainly well under way if not complete."

The moves followed months of increasing pressure from the government, and secret talks amongst loyalist groups.

The UVF was formed in 1966 and is believed to have murdered more than 500 people during the Troubles.

In 2007, it declared that it was renouncing violence and putting its weapons beyond the reach of its membership.