UDA stands down military wing

In an Armistice Day statement from the UDA leadership, read out at memorials to their dead colleagues, they said all weaponry would be put beyond use and all military intelligence destroyed.

They said they were making the momentous move because the military war was over and the struggle to maintain the Union was on a new and more complex battlefield.

The UDA sent out a general order to all members not to be involved in crime or criminality, and it said those who had joined its ranks for such purposes had to be rooted out.

The statement said: "The Ulster Defence Association is committed to achieving a society where violence and weaponry are ghosts of the past."

It appeared that, while weapons were being "put beyond use", they were not being formally de-commissioned as IRA weapons eventually were.

The statement said: "The Ulster Defence Association believes that the war is over, and we are now in a new democratic dispensation that will lead to permanent political stability - but we believe the political parties and the political institutions are themselves still in a period of transition.

"In that context, the organisation intends to continue through a process of transformation that will ultimately achieve a Northern Ireland based on equality, justice and inclusivity where no sections of our people are left behind regardless of religion, politics or identity."

They outlined a series of four actions which they intended to take, including going back to their roots and directing all energies into developing their communities.

But key to everything was Action 2, which stated: "Acknowledging that the military war is over and the struggle to maintain the Union is on a new and more complex battlefield. In consideration of this new reality, all active service units of the Ulster Freedom Fighters will, as from 12pm tonight, stand down with all military intelligence destroyed, and, as a consequence of this, all weaponry will be put beyond use."