Three women were arrested in Cornwall, England, yesterday by detectives leading the hunt for the loyalist killers of Lurgan solicitor Ms Rosemary Nelson.
A 51-year-old woman and her two daughters aged 24 and 26, all originally from Co Armagh, were arrested in a dawn raid on an address in Camborne with the assistance of officers from Devon and Cornwall constabulary.
They would be questioned in relation to "serious terrorist offences in Northern Ireland", according to a statement from Norfolk police, whose deputy chief constable, Mr Colin Port, is leading the two-year inquiry.
Ms Nelson was killed by an under-car explosive device outside her home in March 1999. The Red Hand Defenders, a dissident loyalist coalition, claimed responsibility.
Movement in the case has intensified in recent weeks - five men and three women have been arrested and questioned by the Port team so far this month.
The team has not yet charged anyone with Ms Nelson's murder, but a leading LVF figure from Portadown, who was arrested on June 14th in Plymouth, England, has been charged in connection with the killing of Portadown woman Ms Elizabeth O'Neill. She died when a pipe-bomb was thrown through her sitting-room window in June 1999.
In April, William Thompson, a member of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, was imprisoned for nine years for the possession of firearms and explosives as a result of the Port investigation.
It is believed Ms Nelson was targeted because of her work for the Catholic residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown and her legal representation of republican clients in mid-Ulster. Prior to her death Ms Nelson made claims that RUC officers had threatened her, and allegations of security-force involvement in her death continue. However, last November Mr Port said he had not uncovered any evidence of collusion.