Behind-the-scenes efforts to end the loyalist feud in Belfast were continuing last night as a heavy RUC/British army presence remained in the Shankill area to prevent further attacks.
However, both UDA and UVF sources denied talks were under way and a truce was in place.
Mr John White, the chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, the UDA's political wing, said he hoped the UDA-UVF feud, which has so far claimed three lives, could be ended before anyone else died. However, he denied a newspaper report that a 72-hour truce between the sides had been negotiated at the weekend.
"I can't say there is any evidence to indicate there is a truce at this moment in time. But a lot of work is going on behind the scenes.
"There are a lot of people in both organisations who want to see this come to an end. I would hope there would be a permanent truce in the days that lie ahead. The three funerals in the past week have emphasised the futility of what is happening."
He said he had received telephone calls from as far away as the US from people offering to mediate between the rival paramilitary organisations. However, he did not believe an outsider would be much help. Mediation had to be done by people from Northern Ireland.
BBC Radio Ulster last night said the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, was being considered as a possible negotiator. Archbishop Eames could not be contacted last night.
There has been no further violence on the Shankill Road since the UDA killed Mr Samuel Rockett on Wednesday. Four men who were being questioned by detectives about the murder were released last night.
In Coleraine, Co Derry, the security forces defused two pipe bombs early yesterday. They had been thrown through the livingroom windows of two houses on a loyalist estate but failed to explode. Houses were evacuated in Loughinhill Park, on the Ballysally Estate, and in Glenburn Crescent during the security operation.
British army bomb experts later moved to Dervock, Co Antrim, to defuse another pipe bomb found at the front door of a house on Station Road.
Mr David Ervine, chief spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, is set to join efforts to end the feud after returning from a family holiday in Australia. "We thought we had left all this sort of thing behind. What we are seeing is an explosion of bitterness and hatred which fuels emotion."
He said the feud had nothing to do with unionism and everything to do with individuals and their power base in the Shankill.
Meanwhile, Mr Peter Man delson said his decision to return Shankill UDA commander Johnny Adair to jail had been vindicated. He said it had discouraged others from returning to violence.
He acknowledged the Shankill remained tense but said the situation was "certainly much better" than he had expected. The fact there were no crowds on the streets in support of Adair showed the limits of his influence.
The UDP criticised Mr Mandelson's comments and said the UDA had deliberately not brought people on to the streets. Mr White said the Northern Secretary was very naive. "He clearly knows nothing about community politics and how paramilitaries work."
He said anyone who knew anything about the UDA realised it had the capacity to put large numbers of people on the streets. "Because of what had happened in the previous couple of days there was a lot of fear in the Shankill. The UDA did not want to see the Shankill torn apart."
Meanwhile, the RUC has said it can neither confirm or deny a newspaper report that three loyalists released early under the Belfast Agreement are being investigated in connection with UDA and Loyalist Volunteer Force shows of strength. A police spokesman said it was not possible to contact officers who would be in a position to comment on the Sunday Times story. He added that a team of detectives had been set up to investigate paramilitary-related events on the Shankill.