The Loyalist Volunteer Force has reacted angrily to the decision by the Northern Ireland Secretary to exclude the group from the early release of prisoners.
In a statement released in Portadown yesterday a spokesman, describing himself as a senior member of the LVF "Army Council", said the organisation "was far from satisfied with the decision taken by Mo Mowlam regarding prisoner releases", and that "the general public could now see what agenda the Secretary of State and the Labour government were following".
He said that despite the ruling "the LVF Army Council will not be drawn back into Mo Mowlam's hidden agenda. The Secretary of State will now have to deal with the three republican splinter groups without sacrificing the LVF to save face within the nationalist population."
He said in recent weeks the LVF had been blamed for the attacks on the security forces at Drumcree and at this time it suited Dr Mowlam to blame the LVF for this violence. This allegation, however, had already been refuted when the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, said that other loyalist groups were involved in the Drumcree violence.
"The LVF finds it ironic that they are now excluded from `the prisoner release scheme' when in fact contact was made with the decommissioning body on Monday, July 27th, 1998. This contact was made to enable the LVF to become involved in a physical act of decommissioning weapons. An act which all victims of violence in Northern Ireland would welcome."
The LVF ceasefire called on May 15th remained unequivocal and complete, the spokesman added.
The claim by the LVF that it had made an approach to decommission weapons on Monday was confirmed by the organisation's link person to the decommissioning agency, Pastor Kenny McClinton. He said he had met the agency on Monday and had put forward the LVF proposals to decommission some of their arsenal. Mr McClinton declined to elaborate further on details, saying that the nature of the proposals remain confidential.
A spokesman for the decommissioning agency in Belfast also confirmed that a meeting with a representative of the LVF had taken place on Monday; but he also refused to divulge any details, saying that all matters on the decommissioning of terrorist weapons were totally confidential.