THERE is growing concern that the INLA will restart its armed campaign in the North, following the bloody ending of a nine month feud.
The paramilitary group's leaders are to meet to discuss their next move after they shot dead the leader of the breakaway GHQ group on Tuesday night. The INLA in north Armagh admitted responsibility for the shooting.
The RUC has stepped up its hunt for the killers. The INLA is extremely critical of the peace process, which it believes has not made any gains for working class nationalists. Its political wing, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, has accused Sinn Fein of betraying republican principles.
Last night, loyalist and security sources said the INLA could well relaunch its campaign in an effort to reestablish itself and improve its image after the feud.
Mr Hugh Torney (41) was shot dead in Lurgan, Co Armagh. A man with him was seriously injured. Both men, who are from Belfast, were leaving a house where Mr Torney had been in hiding when two gunmen got out of a car and shot him. Mr Torney fired a shot at his killers but died at the scene.
All Mr Torney's former associates have been killed or had distanced themselves from him. Six people were killed during the feud, which began when Torney, then INLA chief of staff, declared an INLA ceasefire last year in court in Balbriggan, Dublin, where he was facing charges. Gino Gallagher, INLA leader in Belfast, took control of the organisation and expelled Mr Torney.
Gallagher was killed on Mr Torney's orders in January. The INLA retaliated and the feud started. INLA and IRSP members are said to be "delighted" that the feud is effectively over. Security measures have meant that the movement's political and military wings have had to keep a low profile this year.
The Progressive Unionist leader Mr David Ervine, said he feared the INLA would relaunch its campaign, targeting loyalists as part of an internal "healing process".
He warned loyalists to be "on their guard and on their toes". A security source said the paramilitary group could also attempt to kill police officers. "They will need to put this behind them. Uniting in the face of a common enemy would be one way of doing it", he said.
The INLA carried out three gun attacks on police in north Belfast during the Drumcree standoff in July, while the IRA remained inactive.
The IRSP, which has offices in west Belfast, is eager to expand its political base and challenge Sinn Fein in nationalist areas. Party leaders have criticised the peace process and predicted that it will lead only to an internal settlement.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, yesterday described Mr Torney's killing as a tragedy. The INLA was demeaning the cause for which it was originally formed, he said. He urged the organisation to disband.