Britain proposes decommissioning deadline extension
The British government has proposed an extension to the deadline for decommissioning in the North until 2003, with a provision for a further extension until 2007 if necessary.
The new deadlines are contained in a proposed amendment to the Decommissioning Bill.
The previous deadline for decommissioning was February 2002, a date most political analysts believed was too early to secure the full disarmament of all paramilitaries in the North.
The anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party has greeted the proposed extension with indignation, accusing the British government of "pandering to the IRA".
DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson said today’s move proved that the IRA’s gesture on decommissioning in October was "a stunt and a fraud rather then a genuine act of disarmament".
He said today’s Decommissioning Bill makes Sinn Fein’s presence at the heart of the Northern Assembly a farce and accused the North’s First Minister, David Trimble, of "letting the IRA off the hook".
The Bill has yet to go before the British Parliament, but is expected to be passed.
