Man shot in Belfast as Protestant feud deepens

BELFAST - A man was shot dead near Belfast city centre on Monday morning in what politicians said could be the fourth killing in a bloody feud between Protestant extremists who want Northern Ireland to remain British-ruled.

The latest murder, in the tough Protestant Sandy Row neighbourhood, comes after three men were recently killed as a result of feuding between "loyalists" - so called because of their fiercely-professed allegiance to the British crown and hostility to a united Ireland.

"There is speculation that this shooting could be linked to the on-going loyalist feud. This is the last thing Sandy Row needs," the Ulster Unionist assembly member for South Belfast, Michael McGimpsey, said.

Protestant extremist groups such as the Ulster Volunteer Force and Loyalist Volunteer Force have turned on each other since their traditional Irish Republican army foes declared a ceasefire in 1997. The fighting is often linked to drug dealing and racketeering.

Last month, the IRA pledged to dump arms and end violence but Protestant guerrillas have yet to respond.

Local political parties have struggled to agree a lasting political settlement since the 1997 ceasefire because of disputes over the IRA's reluctance to dump weapons and because of crimes linked to all paramilitary groups in the province.

- REUTERS