Bomb defused outside pub

The pub is about 20 yards from a UPRG office

A bomb has been defused outside a pub in north Belfast.

It was found at York Road at about 0230 GMT on Thursday after a telephone warning.

Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on the device.

A number of items were taken away for examination.

The area was cordoned off for a time but has since been reopened.

Democratic Unionist Nigel Dodds said it was a deliberate act of provocation.

"There is clearly an element who are intent on stoking up violence in north Belfast with a clear aim of drawing others into a reaction," said the North Belfast MP.

"It is imperative that this is stamped out as quickly as possible and that no-one is drawn into this cynical attempt to ratchet up violence."

Sammy Duddy of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) - which has links to the loyalist paramilitary UDA - said they had no idea who planted the device.

The pub is about 20 yards from a UPRG office and close to premises used by a loyalist prisoners' welfare group.

It is the fourth bomb incident on the York Road in recent months and local people said they were still unaware of the reasons behind them.