NO-HEADLINE

Direct Action Against Drugs - thought to be a cover name used by the IRA for killing those involved in the drugs trade - claimed responsibility yesterday for the death of a Catholic man in Belfast.

In a telephone call to a local radio station a spokesman for the organisation, using a recognised codeword, said Sean Devlin was killed because he was heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Mr Devlin was gunned down in the living room of a house he was visiting at Friendly Street in the heart of the nationalist Markets area. He was shot by two masked gunmen who burst into the house and shot him several times in the head.