A decision on the future of jailed Lower Shankill loyalist Mr Johnny Adair is not expected until tomorrow.
 |
| Decision on Johnny Adair's bid for freedom expected tomorrow |
The Northern Ireland Sentence Review Commission today said it had still to consider all the evidence presented to it.
"At this stage in the process the commissioners believe it will be early tomorrow rather than late today when it [a decision] will come," a spokesman said.
Secretary of State Mr Peter Mandelson and senior security figures fear Mr Adair's release from Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn in Co Antrim could heighten tensions on the streets of Belfast where seven men were shot dead in a bitter loyalist feud last year. The feud has been resolved.
The UFF Lower Shankill loyalist figure was granted early release in September 1999 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement after serving less than a third of a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism.
But he was sent back to prison last August after Mr Mandelson revoked his early release on the basis of security evidence which said Mr Adair's presence fuelled tensions in the loyalist feud.
PA