The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, yesterday welcomed the opening of IRA arms dumps for inspection by international weapons inspectors as "a very substantial further step" on the road to lasting peace in Northern Ireland. But he stressed IRA confidence-building measures did not amount to decommissioning.
At a meeting in Downing Street, the two weapons inspectors, told Mr Blair and the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, that following their first inspection of the dumps they were satisfied they were secure.
Mr Blair acknowledged the significance of the statements when he told reporters: "The confidence measure we were promised has been put in place."
He added: "Northern Ireland has never had a better prospect than it has today." He also welcomed the IRA decision to resume contact with Gen John de Chastelain's decommissioning commission.
However, Mr Blair said the inspection represented "a step" toward achieving decommissioning. "The whole process of decommissioning has to be gone through . . . It is not decommissioning itself, it is a step on the way."
Details of the inspections carried out by Mr Ramaphosa and Mr Ahtisaari were not revealed and Downing Street resisted close questioning about the information provided by the weapons inspectors. A spokesman would only say the inspectors could be trusted because they were statesmen of "huge international standing". Mr Mandelson described the opening of the arms dumps as "a turning point" and appealed to loyalist paramilitaries to follow the IRA's move and take steps to put their weapons beyond use. He also said it was important not to disclose details of dump locations because there were dissident republicans who were not on ceasefire.