The IRA's commanding officer in the Maze prison, Padraic Wilson, has said "voluntary decommissioning would be a natural development of the peace process".
In an interview conducted in the prison yesterday and reported in this morning's Financial Times, Wilson said while he did not see "any likelihood" of weapons being surrendered to the security forces, he was hopeful of IRA agreement to alternative methods of disarmament.
"I think a `voluntary' decommissioning would be a natural development of the peace process once we get a sense that the arrangements envisaged in the agreement are beginning to function," he said.
According to the Financial Times, Wilson said the Belfast Agreement had "sown the seeds for a permanent end to the conflict" in Northern Ireland. "The government of Tony Blair has been qualitatively different to any of its predecessors in the way it has been willing to engage with and respect republicans as political equals, but Mr Blair must remain focused on the peace process. It could prove disastrous if he takes his eye off the ball".
The Financial Times report says the interview with Wilson was arranged by Sinn Fein with the tacit approval of the Northern Ireland Office and prison authorities. It reports Wilson as saying that dissident groups opposed to the Belfast Agreement are in a minority and do not represent a potent paramilitary threat.
The paper says Sinn Fein officials are believed to have indicated to Gen John de Chastelain, the head of the body responsible for overseeing decommissioning of weapons, that the IRA might be willing to decommission weapons in the presence of independent observers.