The British government yesterday denied reports that it had drawn up plans to dismantle the army in Northern Ireland dependent on a Yes vote in the referendum on May 22nd.
The DUP said at the weekend it had obtained a leaked security document indicating that troops would begin the process of withdrawal from the North in October as part of a plan of "irreversible changes" discussed by military personnel at a meeting on April 17th.
However, moving to quash the speculation, the Defence Secretary, Mr George Robertson, said yesterday there was "absolutely no truth" in the suggestion that the government was planning to withdraw army units.
In a statement on the government's position, Mr Robertson said: "The army will continue to provide whatever level of support the RUC requires for as long as necessary." Military sources said that if a permanent peace was established and the terrorist threat was "completely" removed it was unlikely the current level of security forces would be required in Northern Ireland.
The document claims the commander of the army in Northern Ireland, Lieut Gen Sir Rupert Smith, had decided that a Yes vote in the referendum would signal the withdrawal of troops. Sir Rupert is reported as saying that a Yes vote would result in "the end state of which we are in the business of achieving and which will result in no further need of our services. The aim is to achieve this end state by invisibility".
The operational level of the army in Northern Ireland is 17,000, and this latest leak of security documents to the DUP claims the army will continue limited undercover surveillance patrols, but will be ready to deal with any flashpoints during the summer marching season.
The process of withdrawal will begin in October, the document claims, and it also points to a threat posed by the LVF which it says is planning a bombing campaign in Ireland.
The DUP's security spokesman, Mr Ian Paisley jnr, said yesterday the four-page document, which it planned to publish tomorrow, was leaked by military personnel and referred to the timescale of troop withdrawals.
"A Yes vote in the referendum will mean that the IRA and other terrorist organisations will have their ranks replenished by the release of prisoners, and the IRA will hold onto its weapons. The IRA will be stronger and freer than ever before, and yet the British government's response is to set a timetable of withdrawal," Mr Paisley said.
Sinn Fein said it was an attempt by "securocrats" to use the DUP to scuttle the Belfast Agreement. The party's spokesman, Mr Richard McAuley, said the leak was designed to frighten the unionist community and that people in Northern Ireland needed to be aware of a separate agenda at work.