Attacks 'linked to loyalist feud'

Bomb damaged door to flat

Bomb attacks in east Belfast and County Down have been linked to the escalating loyalist feud.

In the latest incident, a man and a woman escaped injury after a bomb exploded outside their apartment in Holywood.

The couple were in their flat in the Beech End area of the town when a small device exploded just after 0100 BST on Tuesday.

The front door and porch of the property were damaged, as were roof tiles and the door of an adjoining flat.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, as part of a heightening paramilitary dispute with the rival Ulster Volunteer Force, which has already left one man dead.

Army bomb experts took away the remains of a device for examination.

Chief Constable Hugh Orde and Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy have been meeting on Tuesday to discuss the escalating feud.

In another incident, a nail bomb was found at the back of a vacant house at Dundonald on the outskirts of east Belfast.

Shots had been fired at the same house in Longstone Drive in the Ballybeen Estate on Sunday.

These organisations have nothing to offer to the community and bring nothing to the community Duncan McCausland PSNI

Meanwhile, police have said that five bomb attacks and one shooting, in the east Belfast area, are "potentially linked" to the feud between the LVF and UVF.

Since the weekend, eight people have fled their homes in the Belfast area.

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said the police and Army were patrolling to try and prevent more attacks.

"These organisations have nothing to offer to the community and bring nothing to the community," he said on BBC Radio Ulster.

He also rejected Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) claims that police had been colluding with the LVF, saying anyone with such an allegation should take it to the Police Ombudsman.

The PUP is linked to the UVF.

The latest incidents follow an explosion at a house in east Belfast on Monday.

Brian Stewart was shot dead last Tuesday as he arrived for work

It happened at a semi-detached house on the London Road between the Ravenhill and Woodstock Roads at about 1610 BST.

The inside of the building was extensively damaged, but no-one was injured.

Meanwhile, detectives investigating the murder of leading LVF member Brian Stewart were revisiting the scene where he was shot dead exactly a week ago.

Mr Stewart, 34, whose funeral took place on Monday, was killed on his way to work at a plumbing firm in Belfast.

His murder was blamed on the rival UVF.

Four-star hotel

In another development, it has emerged that a number of people forced to flee their homes because of the feud are being put up in a four-star hotel in Belfast.

Housing Executive spokesman Michael Graham said they had a statutory duty to find alternative temporary accommodation in emergencies.

"Remember that we are finding ourselves in a very, very difficult and sensitive situation," he said.

"We have to make decisions on the spur of the moment, we have to find neutral locations for these households and we discharge our responsibility in the best way we can."