'Mad Dog' Adair arrested in attempt to quell loyalist feud

Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair, Northern Ireland's most notorious Protestant terrorist, was arrested and imprisoned by the authorities yesterday in an attempt to quell a loyalist feud that has so far claimed several lives.

He was picked up in Belfast and returned to Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim, on the orders of Paul Murphy, the Northern Ireland Secretary, who indicated he was acting on security advice that Adair was a danger to society.

The authorities were able to arrest Adair because he is on licence, having gained early release from prison under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. He can be held without trial until January 2005.

The authorities acted because Adair is at the centre of a serious loyalist feud which had looked likely to cost more lives. His "C Company", based in the hardline Shankill district of Belfast, is at odds with the rest of the Ulster Defence Association. Mr Murphy said last night he was satisfied Adair was a threat to others and that, while he was at liberty, he was likely to commit more offences.

Earlier this month a supporter of Adair was shot dead at a bar in south Belfast, and a few days ago a blast bomb was thrown at Adair's home.

This is the second time his licence has been revoked. He was released in May last year after being sent back to jail by Peter Mandelson, when he was Northern Ireland Secretary, in August 2000 at the height of a previous loyalist feud.

Since his release, Adair has been a noticeably disruptive element within loyalist paramilitarism, sparking off a number of violent exchanges.

Adair's close associate John White said he was astonished at Adair's recapture. "Here we have a man who did not want to see any violence and who did not want to see anyone losing their lives. Yet we have these UDA brigadiers ordering the death of Johnny and myself and they are running around free. I think many loyalists will be very angry," he said.

Adair, 39, has been at the centre of a bloody loyalist feud since he was expelled from the UDA last year. Police claimed the falling-out was linked to a row over drugs, racketeering and extortion.

A bomb-making factory linked to the feud by police was found in a housing estate in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, last night, after a man was shot and wounded near by on Tuesday night. Six men were being questioned by police.