The bombing of the SDLP offices in north Belfast has been condemned by politicians associated with the UDA. Mr John White, chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, yesterday said the attack, which happened on Thursday night, was absolutely wrong.
Mr Alban Maginness, the SDLP MLA whose office was damaged in the attack, however, believed the UDA was responsible. He linked the bombing to the campaign to have UDA leader Johhny Adair freed. Adair is to remain in Maghaberry Prison following Tuesday's ruling by the Sentence Review Commission.
"I think the attack was a direct response to my support for the continued imprisonment of Johnny Adair. There is no other credible explanation," he said.
The attack comes in the wake of mounting concerns over the UDA's ceasefire after a recent spate of pipe-bomb attacks on Catholic homes in Larne, Co Antrim.
Mr White said it was not necessarily correct to blame the UDA for the attacks and called on the organisation to release a public statement.
"I think the onus lies on the UDA to make a statement on the issue, and clarify it for people, so they know in their own minds who is responsible," he said.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, would take action against any group found to be responsible.
Mr Maginness believed the bomb, which was placed in the porch of his office on the Antrim Road, was intended to cause injury.
The explosion has also been condemned by the Ulster Unionist MP for the area, Mr Cecil Walker.