A man in his 20s has been murdered in Belfast this evening. He is the latest victim of the Loyalist feud in North Belfast. His murder comes just hours after the funeral of UDA man David Greer, who was murdered by the UVF on Saturday last. Two gunmen burst their way into the victim's first storey flat in the Loyalist Rathcoole estate just after 6.30pm today and shot the 26-year-old man a number of times in the head.
The man's girlfriend was in the flat at the time, but she escaped unhurt. A number of shots also went through the floor of the flat narrowly missing a family below. The UDA has been blamed for the killing, the fourth since Saturday in an increasingly bitter Loyalist feud between the UDA and UVF. A total of seven Loyalist men have been killed in the row since August.
The North's First Minister appealed for calm after yesterday's fatal shootings in North Belfast. Two men from opposing Loyalist groups, the UDA and the UVF, were shot dead at their homes in the space of twelve hours. The second victim, 39-year-old Tommy English, who was formerly a member of the Ulster Democratic Party, was shot in Newtownabbey. His killing came only hours after 63-year-old Bertie Rice was shot in the York Road area. He died of his wounds in hospital.
Returning from a conference in Spain last night, David Trimble described the killings as "acts of shocking brutality". Extra troops were moved in to North Belfast overnight amid fears of further attacks. John White of the UDP, which is linked to the UDA/UFF, said that there was very little his party could do to calm the situation and that what was needed was discipline within the UVF. Speaking on Morning Ireland, he rejected suggestions that discipline was needed within the UDA and called for mediation.
On the same programme, Billy Hutchinson of the PUP, which has links to the UVF, said that, while Mr White had called for mediation, the UFF was still carrying out attacks. Mr Hutchinson said that no murder could be justified and that the current situation was of no benefit to either Loyalism or Unionism.
