Irish group says it has given up weapons

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- The Irish National Liberation Army, one of the most violent paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, says it has given up its weapons.

John de Chastelain, the retired Canadian general who heads the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, is expected to verify the group's actions Monday, the BBC reports. The INLA and other armed groups in Northern Ireland have a Tuesday deadline to disarm.

The INLA, which formed in 1974, is believed to have killed 111 people before declaring a cease-fire in 1998. Investigators believe there have been other killings since, including a drug dealer last year.

In October, the group announced it would use only peaceful means for change.

In 1979, Airey Neave, a Conservative member of Parliament, was killed by a car bomb in the House of Commons parking lot in London. Three years later, 17 people died in the bombing of the Droppin' Well pub in Derry in Northern Ireland.

The paramilitary groups have been told any weapons not decommissioned by the deadline can be seized by police and used as evidence in prosecutions.