The transcript of a meeting between General John de Chastelain and two dissident UUP members reveals the IRA may complete decommissioning as soon as February next year.
According to the transcript of the meeting, the General said IRA representatives took the decommissioning body members to a site "on the island of Ireland" to witness the act of disarmament.
The General told Ulster Unionist MLAs Mr Peter Weir and Mrs Pauline Armitage at a meeting on Wednesday that he did not travel to the site of decommissioning "by helicopter or by sea".
"I was on the island of Ireland but I do not know exactly where," he said. "I could have got there by car, by bicycle or I could have walked."
Asked by Mrs Armitage if he believed decommissioning could be completed by February of 2002, which is the cut-off point for his commission's work, General de Chastelain said: "If it came in large amounts over a period of days, then we would be completed long before that."
He also confirmed that an inventory of the IRA weapons was taken, although serial numbers were not noted. General de Chastelain would not go into any detail about the specific type of explosives and weapons involved.
General de Chastelain also indicated that he would have to think carefully about his continued involvement in the disarmament process if the IRA did not complete decommissioning by February 2002.
"I made a commitment a long time ago to take part in the talks. As long as you feel that I can be useful and as long as I feel that I can be useful, then I will stay," he said. "Our only use to the process is if people have confidence in what we do."
PA