Disarmament seen as essential

The decommissioning of paramilitary arms is central to establishing a long-term peace in Northern Ireland

(CNN) -- While political harmony was never a likely or achievable pre-requisite of a long-lasting peace in Northern Ireland, arms decommissioning by the paramilitaries has always been considered essential.

Security sources believe the Irish Republican Army (IRA) alone has enough weaponry to equip a small country's army and sustain a campaign for at least a decade. The arms -- about 1,700 weapons, 50 heavy and general-purpose machine guns, 40 rocket launchers, grenades, mortars, flame throwers, booby traps, ground-to-air missiles and an estimated two tons of Semtex -- are hidden in deep bunkers, almost certainly in the Irish Republic, their whereabouts known to just a few.

The IRA's arsenal was amassed over several years, some of it smuggled in from America and continental Europe, but most of it in several shiploads from Libya in the mid-1980s.

In May 2000, the IRA, which had given its support to the Good Friday Agreement, said it would not give up any of its weapons but would allow an independent inspection.

'Complete and verifiable' disarmament

In its statement, the IRA leadership pledged to initiate a process to "completely and verifiably" put its arms beyond use as required by the British and Irish governments. It also gave an undertaking to resume contact with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) and put in place a confidence-building measure to confirm that their weapons remain secure.

Republicans commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising

Although falling far short of what was demanded by unionists, it was a major step forward and a more significant gesture than the previous occasions when the IRA disarmed -- after the 1916 Easter Rising, when republicans surrendered their arms at gunpoint to the British, and after the 1922 civil war when Eamon de Valera ordered his forces to dump their arms (though this was not monitored).

The IRA's confidence-building measure came seven weeks later when Martti Ahtisaari, the former president of Finland, and Cyril Ramaphosa, a former secretary-general of the African National Congress, revealed they had been allowed to inspect three IRA arms dumps.

In their report, they said: "We inspected a number of arms dumps. The arms dumps held a substantial amount of military material, including explosives and related equipment, as well as weapons and other material. We observed that the weapons and explosives were safely and adequately stored. We have ensured that the weapons and explosives cannot be used without our detection.

"The process that led to the first inspection visit and the way in which it was carried out makes us believe that this is a genuine effort by the IRA to advance the peace process."

In its statement, the IRA said: "The leadership of the IRA has consistently sought to enhance the peace process.

This initiative demonstrates once more our commitment to securing a just and lasting peace."

Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the development as a "very substantial step," although, sensitive to unionist demands for actual disarmament, he said the inspection of dumps was "not decommissioning itself."

'Historic step'

Actual decommissioning began in October 2001 with an announcement by the IRA that it had "implemented the scheme agreed with the IICD ... in order to save the peace process."

The move was confirmed in a statement from the head of the IICD, Gen. John de Chastelain, who said: "A quantity of arms have been put beyond use. It includes arms, ammunitions, and explosives."

The general and his two decommissioning body colleagues were taken to secret dumps to oversee the start of a process that republicans once vowed would never happen.

But they refused to disclose details of where and how it was carried out, or the amount of weapons put "beyond use" -- the local euphemism for destroying or paving over arms dumps.

In response, Britain announced that four security installations in Northern Ireland would be dismantled.

A paramilitary ceasefire helped ensure the formation of the Northern Ireland Assembly

And Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, who had resigned as the Northern Ireland Assembly's first minister over the issue earlier in the year, said IICD officials told him they personally oversaw the removal of "a substantial amount" of weaponry and that the IRA's move was good enough for him.

News of the decommissioning, which came a month after the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the United States, was welcomed on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Whatever the setbacks, whatever the impasses, whatever the strains and stresses of constant negotiation, dialogue and bargaining, this is a peace process that, despite it all, is today working," said Blair.

Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said in Dublin: "There have been several occasions over the last number of years where the word 'historic' has been appropriate, and today's announcement clearly marks another, an unprecedented development."

U.S. President George W. Bush called the news "an historic step," adding: "The people of Northern Ireland are now measurably closer to the lasting peace which they richly deserve."

In April 2002, the IICD announced that the IRA had decommissioned a second "substantial" amount of weapons. The IRA said in a statement that it had taken the step in an attempt to "stabilise" the peace process.