Investigation into loyalist murder

Tommy English's coffin flanked by masked men

The police have carried out a reconstruction of the events leading up to the murder of a prominent loyalist.

Tommy English, 39, was shot in front of his wife at his home in Ballyfore Gardens, on the Ballyduff Estate in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, on 31 October.

Mr English's murder was the third fatal attack in a spate of shootings arising out of a feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association/Ulster Freedom Fighters (UDA/UFF) in north Belfast.

On Tuesday night, officers questioned people on the Ballyduff estate.

Tommy English was shot in front of wife

Police believe the killers used a Renault Laguna car which had been hijacked earlier.

During his funeral on 4 November, four masked men walked beside Mr English's coffin, which was draped in UDA flags.

Later on Wednesday, police are due to carry out a similar operation on the Rathcoole estate in relation to the murder of 26-year-old Mark Quail.

Mr Quail was shot dead at his home on the Rathcoole estate on the outskirts of Belfast on 1 November.

Loyalist sources said he had connections with the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force.

Tuesday's reconstruction followed a meeting of representatives of the main loyalist paramilitary leaderships to discuss the feuding which has led to seven killings in Belfast in recent months.

Four men have been murdered and one seriously injured in shootings linked to the feud in north Belfast, which erupted about 10 days ago.

The meeting on Tuesday was thought to have been attended by the most senior figure in the Ulster Volunteer Force and the paramilitary organisation's leader in north Belfast.

Meeting about feud

A representative of the Ulster Defence Association's so-called inner council and a senior member of that group in south east Antrim are also thought to have attended.

The four men have been meeting for weeks to try to bring an end to the in-fighting.

Last week, 14 members of both organisations were to meet to discuss the feuding in the Shankill area, but this was cancelled because of the killings in north Belfast.

The meeting came a day after the funerals of feud victims Bertie Rice, 63 and Mark Quail.

On Tuesday, the police issued a new appeal for information about the murder of former Progressive Unionist Party worker Mr Rice.

Mr Rice was shot in front of his wife at their home at Canning Street, in the city's York Road area, on 31 October.

The police staged a reconstruction of events leading up to the killing on Tuesday.

The shooting was thought to have been in reprisal for the murder of 21-year-old David Greer, a member of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) on 28 October.

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

The current violence in the north of the city is thought to be separate from a feud between the UVF and UDA/UFF in west Belfast, which erupted in July and has left three men dead and more than 200 families homeless.

The north Belfast dispute involves local factions of the two loyalist organisations. Security sources said it flared up as a result of an argument in a Belfast pub.