Man released without charge

Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood were shot in jeep

A man who was being questioned by police in connection with a double murder has been released without charge.

Jackie Coulter, a senior Ulster Defence Association member, and Bobby Mahood were shot as they sat in a Land Rover Discovery outside a bookmakers on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast on Monday afternoon.

Their murders were linked to a feud between the paramilitary UDA/Ulster Freedom Fighters and the rival Ulster Volunteer Force which spilled over into violence on the Shankill Road at the weekend.

Shootings followed raised tensions Mr Coulter and Mr Mahood were shot after tensions in the loyalist community erupted on Saturday at a UDA-linked festival on the Shankill Road.

Shots were fired into the Rex bar on Saturday afternoon, injuring seven people.

Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF, blamed the UDA/UFF for the attack. However, he said the people drinking in the bar were ordinary people and not UVF members.

Tensions were also raised when a UFF/UDA colour party standing on the festival stage let off a volley of shots in a "show of strength" cheered on by crowds of people.

Loyalist's business targeted

Meanwhile, it has been claimed an attempted arson attack in Ahoghill, County Antrim, early on Wednesday was linked to the feud.

The double glazing business targeted belongs to the chairman of the local PUP branch, William McCaughey.

Mr McCaughey said he found his office doused in petrol and with burnt papers on the floor.

He said the fire would not prevent him from continuing his work for the PUP.