Intelligence

Protestant feud could go "out of control"

Protestant feud could go "out of control"

BELFAST (Reuters) - A growing feud between Protestant groups in Northern Ireland could spiral out of control, a senior police officer says.
A street war between the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the smaller Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) erupted a week ago when 34-year-old LVF man Brian Stewart was shot dead as he arrived for work in mainly Protestant east Belfast.

"Clearly it would be fair to say there is an on-going feud between those two organisations," said Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland, the city's top police officer.

"Since the murder of Mr Stewart this time last week, we've had six separate attacks, five bomb attacks and one shooting incident."

McCausland described the feud as a "turf war", but refused to speculate on what was behind the latest flare-up between two outlawed organisations with a history of bad blood.

In an effort to keep a lid on the situation, British troops, an increasingly rare sight on the streets of the province since the paramilitary ceasefires which preceded the 1998 Good Friday peace deal, have been deployed in hardline Protestant areas.

"I have concerns this could spiral out of control, but at this moment in time we have got pro-active police patrolling on the streets supported by military colleagues," McCausland said. "It's important everybody uses their influence to stop this."

Northern Ireland's police chief Hugh Orde and Security Minister Ian Pearson were due to meet later on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

The UVF and LVF are both "loyalist" groups, so-called because they violently opposed the IRA's campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

The LVF was founded by maverick paramilitary boss Billy "King Rat" Wright, who was thrown out of the UVF in 1996 after being blamed for a sectarian killing unsanctioned by the leadership.

Since then there has been a history of feuding between the two organisations.

May 25, 2004 at 10:14 AM in Ireland | Permalink | TrackBack (12) | Top of page | Blog Home