Man dies after 'reprisal' shooting

The scene of the shooting has been cordoned off

A man has died in hospital after a gun attack in a loyalist area of north Belfast.

Bertie Rice, 63, was shot in front of his wife at their home at Canning Street, in the city's York Road area, about 1145 GMT on Tuesday.

He died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast from a single gunshot wound to the chest, three hours after the attack.

The shooting is thought to have been in reprisal for the weekend murder of 21-year-old David Greer, a member of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

However, the police say a clear motive for Mr Rice's murder has not yet been established.

Meanwhile, extra troops and police are being deployed in loyalist areas of north and west Belfast following the murder of Mr Rice.

On Tuesday, RUC Chief Supt George Livingstone said the situation was dangerous and volatile and called for "common sense".

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was blamed for killing Mr Greer, at Mountcollyer Avenue in a neighbouring area of north Belfast, on Saturday night.

The UVF and UDA/UFF have been involved in a vicious feud in the Shankill Road area of west Belfast, which has left three men dead and more than 200 families homeless.

Billy Hutchinson: Blamed UFF for murder

Tuesday's victim worked part-time in the constituency office of north Belfast assemblyman Billy Hutchinson, of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF.

Mr Hutchinson has blamed the UFF for the latest murder, which he said, was in retaliation for the weekend killing.

"It just makes you sick," he said. "These people took this man's life because he was a soft target, because he lives in what's described as the Tiger's Bay area.

"They didn't want to venture down the road to look for UVF men so they took him."

I would appeal to both sides once again to think about the course they are taking and would call on them to get together to resolve this before it gets out of hand

John White

The victim had only moved into his house last Tuesday. His family returned to Northern Ireland 10 months ago after 19 years in South Africa.

John White, chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party, which has links to the UDA/UFF described the shooting as "deplorable".

Mr White, who knew the dead man well, said the attack was "almost certainly" linked to the bitter loyalist feud.

"I would appeal to both sides once again to think about the course they are taking and would call on them to get together to resolve this before it gets out of hand," he said.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson has condemned the killing.

He said: "Today's murder, like that at the weekend, has achieved nothing and has only deepened the sense of shame and fear in the local community."

The Democratic Unionist Party assembly member Nigel Dodds said people in the area were devastated by the killing.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Dodds said: "Once you get into a spiral of tit-for-tat retaliation, where does it end? Nobody knows.

"There are two immediate imperatives, those who are involved and are spokesmen for these groups to make it clear they want an end to this and retaliation.

"Secondly, for the security forces for the police on the ground to be very visible and put a clamp on the situation to prevent further shootings."