One of Northern Ireland's most notorious loyalist paramilitaries, Johnny Adair - nicknamed "Mad Dog" for his role in directing violence in the early 1990s - has become the 293rd prisoner to be freed under the Belfast Agreement's early release scheme.
Two large Ulster Defence Association flags were draped over the turnstile gates of the Maze Prison as Adair emerged yesterday morning, giving a clenched-fist salute to supporters outside the prison.
He was greeted by Mr John White, chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, the political wing of the UFF. Mr White said he had come to thank Adair for his role in the peace process, to which he had given his "unwavering support".
He said Adair (34) would now be working with Prisoners Aid to help regenerate the Oldpark area of north Belfast on the peace line between nationalist and loyalist areas. On leaving the Maze, Adair was bundled into the back of a car and driven off as he struggled to put on a bullet-proof jacket.
Adair was the commander in the Maze Prison of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). He was released after serving four years of a 16-year term imposed in September 1995 after he became the first man in the North to be convicted of directing terrorism.
It is not known how many Catholic killings the UFF leader was responsible for, but security force sources estimate it could be up to 30.
At his trial, at which he pleaded guilty, the prosecutor, Mr Pat Lynch, described Adair as "dedicated to his cause, which was nakedly sectarian in its hatred of those it regarded as militant republicans, among whom he had lumped almost the entire Catholic population".
However, a decision by Adair and other imprisoned loyalist leaders to support the peace process, after the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, had visited them in the Maze, helped calm tensions after the killing of another leading loyalist, Mr Billy Wright, a close associate of Mr Adair, by the INLA in the prison compound just days after Christmas 1997.
Dr Mowlam is understood to have challenged the Sentence Review Commission's preliminary decision to release Adair but withdrew her objection after complaints by the UDP that no individual prisoner should be discriminated against. Yesterday she said she still had reservations about his release.