DUP leader, Dr Ian Paisley has slammed proposals for an Independent Monitoring Body describing it as "nothing more than another attempt to rescue David Trimble from the great difficulty he now finds himself in".

Commenting on Thursday's announcement, Dr Paisley said the move would simply "reward" terrorists and that Sinn Fein where "no more likely to be removed from government by this commission than they were by the failed exclusion mechanism".

He added: “With the Ulster Unionist Party in turmoil David Trimble is attempting to strengthen his position by entering into this secret deal with the British Government. It is clear from what has been announced today that rather than punish the IRA, this commission will reward the terrorists.

"The Irish representative on the commission will have a say on the internal affairs of the Northern Ireland Assembly despite the protestations of David Trimble. The people of Ulster do not need the government of the Irish Republic to tell them who is and who is not a democrat. After the break-in at Castlreagh, the activities in Colombia and the Stormont spy ring, we know that Sinn Fein/IRA are not democrats."

The Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, however, praised the calibre of the four nominees to the Commission, noting the inclusion of former deputy director of the CIA, a former Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism chief and an official from the Irish Republic's Department of Justice.

He said: "Is this going to work? Nobody knows. However, we have a body which is there to focus primarily on paramilitary activity and we are not going back to the position where a Secretary of State is prepared to brush that activity under the carpet.''

But, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams described the decision to set up a monitoring body as appeasement for unionism.

He said: "Everyone knows that this Commission was established to appease unionism and since it was first put forward it has been tinkered with and diluted to meet the needs of factions within unionism.

"Our greatest difficulty with this particular Commission is that the Good Friday Agreement has been fundamentally changed to give authority to a British Minister that he did not previously have under the Agreement. They stepped outside the Agreement to give him this power.

"While we fully support people being held to account, we will not support a mechanism that is totally outside of the Agreement."

The establishment of the Independent Monitoring Commission is part of the package of proposals published by the British and Irish Governments on 1 May aimed at rebuilding trust and confidence and the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement. The Agreement sets out in detail the role and functions of the Commission and how it will operate. It will be formally ratified by the two Governments later in the Autumn.

It's four members are Richard Kerr, the former Deputy Director of the CIA, Lord Alderdice, the former Alliance leader, John Grieve, formerly a senior officer in the Metropolitan Police and Joseph Brosnan, former Secretary General of the Department of Justice in Ireland.

(MB)