Loyalist 'still committed' to agreement

John White (f-l) attended funeral of murdered loyalist

A political associate of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association has said he is still committed to politics, despite an ongoing loyalist feud.

The UDA/Ulster Freedom Fighters has been involved in a violent feud with the rival Ulster Volunteer Force in the west Belfast Shankill area and north Belfast which left three people dead this week.

But chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party John White said he was still committed to the 1998 peace accord, which he helped to negotiate.

He was responding to calls from Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness to make his position on the peace process clear.

The Sinn Fein education minister called on Mr White to clarify his position after he met Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson at Hillsborough on Friday to discuss the loyalist feud.

'Agreement only possible solution'

Mr McGuinness said he had been concerned for some time about what was happening inside the UDA and the UDP.

Martin McGuinness: Concern over loyalist position

"I would like to hear a very clear statement from John White about were he stands on the peace process," he said.

Responding, John White said: "I don't need to answer questions raised by Mr McGuinness about how he feels I feel," he said.

"As far as I'm concerned the agreement is the only possible solution to creating the political stability we need."

The UDA/UFF has been blamed for murdering 22-year-old Sam Rocket at a house in Summer Street in the loyalist Oldpark area of north Belfast on Wednesday night, in reprisal for a double murder on Monday.

It is understood Mr Rocket had links with the UVF.

Jackie Coulter, a close associate of convicted UFF leader Johnny Adair, and another man Bobby Mahood were shot dead while sitting in a jeep outside a Bookmakers on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast on Monday afternoon.

John White and other UDP members attended their funerals on Thursday and Friday.