500 warned of loyalist threat

Names, photographs and maps were in loyalist hands

The RUC is informing up to 500 people that their personal details have been found in the hands of loyalist paramilitaries.

The move comes after recent searches in north Belfast in which police seized documents and computer disks along with weapons and pipe bombs.

Some of the information is thought to be up to 10 years old, but two or three files are understood to have been made between l997 and l999.

In some of the cases, the lists contain only names with no addresses. Photographs were also seized.

Police charged a number of people following the searches at two locations.

Houses marked on map

Belfast Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan said the police began informing people of the find on Tuesday.

Alan McQuillan: Concern about circumstances of finds

He said: "There were two sites. At one we found a vehicle with a number of firearms in it and what appeared to be the database for a loyalist paramilitary group.

"It contains details of about 150 people who they believe are republicans in the north and west Belfast areas. There was also a roadmap of north Belfast on which a number of houses were marked.

"The second file was in one of the pipe bomb factories which we found within the last ten days.

"There we found a printout from what appeared to be a republican prisoners' support internet site.

"On that there were details on 350 republican prisoners, most of whom we believe are now probably out of prison."

Investigation

Mr McQuillan added that the police were treating the matter "very seriously".

"In one case we found these names in a site where there were a number of weapons," he said.

"And in the other case at the time of the pipe bomb attacks we found this in a place where there were pipe bombs.

He added: "We have two teams working on this.

"One team is working to trace these people and warn them that this information is in the possession of these groups and the other is actively investigating what these people were doing with this material and what intentions they had of using it."

The names of between 30 and 40 loyalists were also discovered.