UVF 'deactivates' and agrees to put weapons 'beyond reach'

A loyalist group responsible for more than 500 deaths in the Northern Ireland Troubles announced yesterday that it is going out of business as a terrorist organisation.

The decision by the Ulster Volunteer Force to assume "a non-military civilianised role" received a general welcome, though this was tempered by the fact that it does not plan to decommission its weapons. Instead, it promised to put guns and other material "beyond reach" but would not define what that meant.

Nonetheless, the move was viewed as another milestone in a peace process which has accelerated at a dizzying pace.

Next Tuesday, Tony Blair and the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, will travel to Belfast to witness the formation of a devolved government to be headed by the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein.

In a statement delivered in Belfast by the loyalist icon Augustus "Gusty" Spence, the UVF promised to end violent and criminal activity, asserting the union with Britain was safe and accepting the IRA's war is over.

It declared: "All recruitment has ceased, military training has ceased, targeting has ceased and all intelligence rendered obsolete, all active service units have been de-activated, all ordnance has been put beyond reach."

As always with assertions from armed groups, this one will be treated with caution, not least because of recent indications that the UVF was involved in intelligence-gathering.

Although the organisation declared a ceasefire 13 years ago, it has been responsible since then for a score of killings. Many have been as a result of feuding with other loyalist groups.

The most recent UVF murder was the killing of Michael Green during a loyalist feud in August 2005 - the 569th killing attributed to it since 1966.

It was responsible for the first three killings of the Troubles, and the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Irish Republic which killed 33 people in 1974. It will also always be associated with the "Shankill Butchers" gang, and UVF bomb attacks on Catholic bars often claimed multiple victims, such as the 15 who died in the bombing of McGurk's bar in 1971.

Paul McIlwaine, whose son was killed by the UVF in 2000, said: "They have to decommission. Get rid of criminality and rogue elements in the organisation. Then disband the organisation itself - although you have to welcome any move."

Paul McKenna, whose sister Sharon was shot dead by the UVF in 1993, described the statement as "a bit too late". He added: "What I'd really welcome is if they went away and left everybody alone."

Yesterday's move was clearly intended to be taken seriously, a point made by the attendance of dozens of influential loyalist figures. It followed three years of internal consultations.

The other major loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association, has yet to pronounce on its future.

Mr Blair's spokesman said: "We welcome this announcement but, as with statements from other paramilitary groups, we await to see it delivered in action. What is underlined, however, is that the peace process has worked."

'We call on all violent dissidents to desist'

This is an edited version of the UVF statement:

The leadership of the UVF and Red Hand Commando today make public the outcome of our three-year consultation process.

We do so against a backdrop of increasing community acceptance that the mainstream republican offensive has ended; the six principles upon which our ceasefire was predicated are maintained; the principle of consent has been firmly established and the Union remains safe.

As of 12 midnight, Thursday 3 May 2007, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando will assume a non-military, civilianised, role.

We encourage our volunteers to embrace the challenges which continue to face their communities and support their continued participation in non-military capacities.

We call on all violent dissidents to desist immediately.

We have taken the above measures... to engender confidence that the constitutional question has now been firmly settled. We reiterate the sincere expression of abject and true remorse to all innocent victims of the conflict.

For God and Ulster.

Captain William Johnston; Adjutant

From prison to peace

* In 1966, the Ulster Volunteer Force - a grandiose name for a Belfast backstreet gang - killed three people in sectarian attacks. Augustus "Gusty" Spence, now in his 70s, was given a life sentence. He was seen as being so extreme as to be off the radar screen.

* But over 18 years behind bars Spence transformed himself from an icon of violence into an advocate of reconciliation. He has been on a genuine personal odyssey, and has consistently urged other loyalists to follow.

* As the descent into violence accelerated in the 1970s he was joined in prison by an increasing stream of young UVF members. A wall slogan signalled the loyalist slide into violence: "Gusty was right". Inside Long Kesh he became head of the UVF, and the elder statesman of armed loyalism.

* In 1977, he astonished everyone by calling for loyalist and republican ceasefires. He showed himself to be unusually openminded, studying the Irish language and Irish history.

* He was released in 1984, partly on health grounds - though yesterday, 23 years later, he appeared fit as a fiddle.

* Since then, he has pushed the UVF in a political direction, helped by former prison protegés such as Billy Hutchinson and the late David Ervine.