BELFAST -- International arms monitors said on Monday the Irish Republican Army had proposed a way to put its weapons "completely and verifiably beyond use," potentially breaking a long impasse in the Northern Ireland peace process.
The body overseeing guerrilla disarmament in Northern Ireland said in a statement: "Based on our discussions with the IRA representative we believe this proposal initiates a process that will put IRA arms completely and verifiably beyond use."
The International Commission on Decommissioning, headed by Canadian General John de Chastelain, said the proposal was put forward in a recent meeting but gave no details.
Britain's Northern Ireland secretary, John Reid, told reporters: "I believe it provides the basis and the potential for rapidly resolving the arms issue."
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern also "warmly welcomed" what he called a "major breakthrough."
"This represents a major step forward toward the resolution of the arms issue," said Ahern in a radio interview with Independent Network News.
The issue of guerrilla disarmament has brought peace efforts in the troubled, British-ruled province close to collapse, with Protestant politicians refusing to continue a power-sharing government with republican Roman Catholics unless the IRA begins to surrender its weapons.
The coalition government was set up under terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, which curtailed more than three decades of sectarian violence between Protestants supporting continued British rule and Catholics seeking union with Ireland.
The Commission statement may not satisfy some in the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), who demand an immediate handover of IRA weapons to allow their leader, David Trimble, to return as head of the semi-autonomous government.
Jeffrey Donaldson, a prominent hard-liner within the party, said it was actions, not words, that mattered.
"The significance is not so much in what is said here, but whether or not the IRA will now follow through and decommission their illegal weapons," Donaldson said.
Gerry Adams, president of the IRA's political ally, Sinn Fein, called the development a "hugely historic breakthrough," and urged Britain and unionist parties to "grasp the new opportunity that this...creates."
"Once again the IRA has demonstrated its commitment to the search for a lasting peace. The other parties need to match that commitment and should respond positively and constructively," Adams said.
"I would now expect...politicians to work at politics and leave the (commission) to work away on the arms issue."
A spokesman for the commission would not elaborate on the scant details of the statement, although he said the proposals would involve "no risk to the public and avoid the possibility of misappropriation by others."
The move comes a week after the British and Republic of Ireland governments published a package of "take it or leave it" measures aimed at rescuing the peace process.
Feuding Protestant and Catholic politicians were set a deadline of midnight on Monday by London and Dublin to accept the new peace proposals.
But the two sides, at loggerheads over police reform and the presence of British troops on the province's streets as well as guerrilla arms, said they would not be rushed into judgement.
The leadership of the UUP, the province's main Protestant political grouping, was due to meet in Belfast at 7 p.m. (2 p.m. EDT), but warned they would not be making any definitive response to the governments' proposals.
"Do not expect a response tonight, indeed it might be a few days before we are in a position to respond," Michael McGimpsey, a minister in the provincial government, told reporters.
Britain and Ireland, anxious to revive the Good Friday accord, are expected to show patience and let the deadline slip.
A car bomb in London last week that injured 11 people underlined the high stakes. It was blamed on the Real IRA, a breakaway group from the IRA that opposes the peace process.
A new deadline of August 12 looms, however, triggered by last month's resignation of UUP chief Trimble as first minister over the IRA's failure to disarm.
If there is no agreement by August 12 on selecting ministers for the power-sharing cabinet, Britain will have to call fresh provincial elections or re-introduce direct rule from London.
The IRA, which with other mainstream guerrilla groups is observing a long-standing cease-fire, has opened arms dumps for international inspection three times to prove its weapons have not been used.
Sectarian tensions have been high in Northern Ireland in recent weeks, with a surge in street violence, a Protestant militia's murder of a teenager and bomb attacks against both sides.
