Loyalist politicians linked to the UDA and UVF have denied that either paramilitary group shot and injured a Catholic workman at a loyalist estate in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, yesterday.
The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, condemned the shooting as outrageous. It underlined why decommissioning was necessary. "At a time when we are striving for lasting peace there are those who are intent on dragging us back to the dark days of the past," he added.
Mr William Cameron, an Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) representative in Carrickfergus, blamed loyalist dissidents for the attack.
The UVF, through its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, also denied involvement.
The 39-year-old Co Derry man was shot in the chest and leg as he arrived for work. He was rushed to the Mater Hospital where he is "ill but stable".
Mr Patsy McGlone, a senior SDLP member in mid-Ulster and a friend of the victim, said the wounded man was a soft target. Police said the shooting bore all the hallmarks of a loyalist attack. There were some reports that a new group called the Protestant Liberation Force had admitted responsibility. It also claimed the attack on a Belfast bookmakers last week in which two boys narrowly escaped injury.
Police and local politicians suspect, however, that the UDA, which has a strong presence in the area, was implicated. But Mr Cameron of the local UDP, which is linked to the UDA, said that organisation was not involved.
A PUP spokeswoman said the UVF had informed her its ceasefire was also intact.
Earlier this week the SDLP met senior RUC officers to express its concerns at the high incidence of loyalist attacks in Co Antrim.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, also said areas of Antrim had become a focus for loyalist attacks.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said the shooting seemed "part of a pattern of intimidation of the nationalist community in the south Antrim area by dissident loyalist groups".
The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said the shooting was "repugnant". "Those who carried out the attack are the enemies of the agreement," he added.
Mr Sean Neeson, the Alliance party leader, said another innocent man had become the victim of "ruthless and savage bigots".
The Workers' Party and the Irish Republican Socialist Party also condemned the shooting.
Late on Tuesday night a 23-year-old man was the victim of a so-called punishment beating at Devenish Crescent, Monkstown, Newtownabbey, on the outskirts of Belfast.
Also on Tuesday three masked men assaulted a 27-year-old man in Coleraine, Co Derry, with cudgels.
