Man held over missing loyalist

Alan McCullough has been missing since Wednesday

A 40-year-old man is still being questioned following the disappearance of a north Belfast man who, police say, may have been murdered.

Alan McCullough, 21, whose disappearance is being linked to a loyalist paramilitary feud, was last seen leaving his home in the Shankill area of the city on Wednesday night.

On Saturday evening, a north Belfast man was arrested by police.

Mr McCullough had recently returned to Northern Ireland after fleeing from his home following a feud within the loyalist Ulster Defence Association earlier this year.

It is understood the missing man was linked to the faction led by jailed Shankill loyalist Johnny Adair.

Police investigating his disappearance had been searching a reservoir in the Waterworks Park in north Belfast.

That search ended on Saturday afternoon after nothing was found.

The police then turned their attention to a boat moored in Carrickfergus, County Antrim.

On Saturday, Detective Chief Inspector Will Kerr said they feared the worst.

"At this stage, we would have a belief that Alan may have been murdered," he said.

Shankill loyalist Johnny Adair was expelled from the UDA

A number of people who were arrested and questioned about serious crime, following searches in the greater Belfast area, were released without charge on Saturday.

The bloody feud within the UDA was linked to the deaths of four men at the beginning of the year.

Johnny Adair and his associate John White were expelled from the UDA leadership last September, causing a split in the organisation.

In February, family and associates of Adair fled their homes for Scotland.

Adair remains in prison after the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, revoked his early release licence in January for his involvement in "a litany of terrorist crimes".