Gen John de Chastelain has confirmed that the IRA has carried out a third and substantial act of decommissioning as part of the deal leading to elections in Northern Ireland.
In a press conference a short time ago, Gen de Chastelain said: "The commission has witnessed a third event in which IRA weapons have been put beyond use, in accordance with government schemes and regulations."
Gen de Chastelain said the decommissioningwas "considerably larger" than previous disarmaments.
"The quantity of arms involved is much larger than the quantity put beyond use in the previous event," he said.
He said the arms decommissioned comprised light, medium and heavy ordnance and associated munitions including automatic weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosives materiel.
