End gang warfare - Mandelson

Peter Mandelson: To hold talks with loyalists

The Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson has insisted the "murderous gang warfare" which saw two deaths in Belfast on Monday must be halted.

Mr Mandelson said he would not let the violence affecting parts of the city blow the peace process off course.

It is nothing more or less than squalid murderous gang warfare.

Peter Mandelson

He was speaking after the Royal Ulster Constabulary called for the help of the army in keeping order in the wake of the shootings.

The attack is believed to be linked to a feud between the rival Ulster Freedom Fighters/Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Mr Mandelson is to have early talks with the political representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries.

Speaking after returning to Northern Ireland from a holiday, Mr Mandelson said paramilitary prisoners given early release would be returned to jail if they were found to be in breach of the ceasefire.

The Conservatives have responded by repeating their policy that prisoner releases should not have taken place before the decommissioning of terrorist weapons.

Prisoner warning

Mr Mandelson said any "ex-prisoner who is out is not totally free, they are out on licence and any individual who breaks their licence, they know the consequences of their actions". He said he would not hesitate to act if he had to.

He also called on the loyalist community around the Shankill Road to help the police restore order to the area and to "reject utterly" the mob violence taking place as rival gangs fight for control.

When asked why no prisoners had been re-arrested so far Mr Mandelson said that he would act only on the advice of the police.

They should make a start by putting the likes of Johnny Adair and Michael Stone back in prison where they belong

Andrew Mackay

"We're not going to have it. We haven't come this far in reducing tension between the two traditions only to see rival loyalist factions take away the gains we have made.

"This violence has got to end and it has got to end now. We have got to restore sanity to the situation."

Tragedy predicted

Speaking before the RUC called for the aid of the army the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Andrew Mackay said the fatal shootings were "tragically all too predictable".

He added that they reinforced his party's view that that prisoners should not have been let back on the streets before there had been decommissioning.

"This and other attacks are clear breaches of the ceasefire and the Belfast Agreement.

"The government must now act to make clear that the terrorist violence we have seen in the past few days will not be tolerated and that parts of Belfast will not be given over to paramilitary organisations.

"They should make a start by putting the likes of Johnny Adair and Michael Stone back in prison where they belong."

'Mobster' violence

Speaking for the Ulster Unionists MP Ken Magginis demanded government action to tackle what he said was "Chicago-type mobster violence".

He said recent trouble had nothing to do with politics or sectarianism, but was part of "a growing mafia sub-culture".

A Progressive Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly whose home is next door to one of the houses hit by gunfire underlined his commitment to the peace process despite the rising violence.

Billy Hutchinson said: "It's a tragedy, I don't want to see anybody dying. We've worked too hard for a peace process to ensure that all this conflict stops."

Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley spelt out the fears of the nationalist community saying: "If our history has taught us anything it is that loyalist feuding is usually brought to an end by the organisations involved uniting to launch a sectarian onslaught against Catholic people.

"It is therefore imperative that all people remain calm but extremely vigilant in the days ahead."