RUC detectives were having difficulty last night finding witnesses to the murder of a prominent dissident loyalist, even though he was shot in broad daylight off Shankill Road yesterday afternoon.
Loyalist paramilitaries are being blamed for the killing of Mr Frankie Curry, which has provoked fears of a potentially murderous inter-loyalist feud.
Mr Curry, who has been linked to the Red Hand Defenders, which admitted murdering Lurgan solicitor Ms Rosemary Nelson, was shot several times in the back of the head at Malvern Way on the Shankill around 3 p.m.
His body was found on waste ground about 20 yards from a social club where people were watching the Cheltenham races. A man walking with him at the time was unharmed.
In a statement, the Red Hand Defenders blamed the UVF for the murder and said the killing would be avenged.
The group, which has murdered three people in the past six months, including Ms Nelson, said it would take "military action" against those it believed had carried out or ordered Mr Curry's killing.
It named several prominent loyalist figures in the statement. It also warned members of the Progressive Unionist Party, the political wing of the UVF, to "be on guard. They are now the enemy after all that has happened."
Mr Gusty Spence, a former UVF leader, who was an uncle of Mr Curry, said he had spoken to the UVF and Red Hand Commando leaderships and was assured they were not involved in the murder.
Mr Billy Hutchinson, a leading spokesman for the PUP - speaking from the US - said the UVF ceasefire still held. He described the Red Hand Defenders as "gangsters trying to stop the peace process".
"As far as I am concerned the loyalist ceasefire is still intact. I have not been told anything different.
"When I come home I will be talking to people to ensure that we continue to hold the ceasefire and make sure the Good Friday Agreement is implemented for all of the people in our society."
