Police investigating loyliast murderer Michael Stone's attempted bomb attack at Stormont on Friday, searched the home of a former girlfriend of the loyalist killer tonight.
Officers moved in to carry out a detailed examination of the property in the city's Ballybeen estate. Detectives and forensic experts closed off the area to the public.
Police refused to confirm the purpose of the operation but sources close to the former UDA gunman pointed to a definite link. The dwelling at Grahamsbridge Road is believed to belong to a former partner of Stone.
The loyalist has been thrown back into prison after launching a kamikaze-style attack on parliament buildings at Stormont in east Belfast on Friday.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain ordered the move after Stone stormed the building armed with a fake gun, and up to eight nail bombs. He was foiled by two security guards who wrestled him to the ground before he could enter the Assembly debating chamber where politicians were discussing the restoration of the power-sharing government.
He was charged at Belfast Magistrates Court on Saturday with attempting to murder Sinn Féin leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, the two security guards and a person unknown.
Stone (51) was released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement after serving 12 years in prison. He was sentenced to almost 700 years for six murders, three of which were committed during a lone gun and grenade attack on an IRA funeral in Belfast in 1988.
An order suspending his release licence was signed by Northern Ireland Office Minister Paul Goggins on Saturday. Under the terms of the licence, authorities can send former paramilitaries back to prison if they become involved in terrorism again or are considered a risk to the public.
Northern Ireland Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr has to decide how much more of his life sentence he must serve. If he accepts the minimum recommended tariff set by the judge in the original murder case, Stone will spend another 18 years in detention.