Loyalist feud claims second victim in Belfast

Police chiefs fear new bloodshed in a loyalist paramilitary feud in Northern Ireland following a second murder in Belfast last night.

Roy Green was ambushed as he left a pub in south Belfast by opponents of Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair. A second man with him at the time escaped unhurt. Both had been in the Kimberley Bar in the city's Ballynafeigh area for just a short time.

With both loyalist factions under Church and political pressure to call a truce, detectives admitted the tit-for-tat campaign of gun and bomb attacks could be set to develop.

Chief Supt Phil Wright said: "How many incidents have to take place before all this settles down?"

Within hours the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) which is associated with the UDA admitted shooting Mr Green, a former prisoner, who came from the Donegall Road area, a mile away.

It was the latest in a series of reprisal attacks after Adair's expulsion from the UDA several months ago following a fall-out with the organisation's other commanders.

Jonathan Stewart, aged 22, a close relative of one of Adair's former associates but who had no paramilitary links, was shot dead by a hooded gunman at a party in north Belfast on Boxing Day.

Extra police and troops have been on duty all over Belfast as part of a major surveillance operation to try to keep both sides apart. A special team of officers has also been set up to investigate the attacks but last night's murder clearly signalled an escalation of the feud.

It was condemned by Northern Ireland Office minister Des Browne and police chiefs said they were appalled. Mr Wright added: "We've started the New Year in the same way we finished last year with a man dead on the street.

"We are very concerned about the way things are going. How many incidents have to take place before all this settles down?"

Adair's rivals insisted there was no way back for him to rejoin the UDA, an organisation heavily involved in drugs, extortion and racketeering.

Mr Green was in his 30s, and had no connections with the UDA in the Shankill area of west Belfast where Adair and his supporters are based, according to Adair's friends. They said he was a member of the UDA in south Belfast.

John White, who has survived at least one bomb attack on his home near Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, said: "It is unbelievable what is happening.

"I don't know who was responsible for the death of young Stewart, but these people have attempted to murder at least seven people simply because they come or came from the Shankill. They've now murdered this man.

"There does not seem to be any point in talking to them. Their actions are so unbelievable, they are difficult to understand."

• A man was shot in the right leg in a paramilitary style shooting in Carrickfergus, after being abducted in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.