City murder victim had been shot

The body of the man, who has not been formally identified, was found in a car park off the Fall's Road near St Gall's GAA club.

In north Belfast, a man's body was discovered near Elmfield Street, Ardoyne, at about 0800 GMT. He had suffered head injuries.

Detective Superintendent George Clarke said at the moment police were treating the killings as separate inquiries.

"We are at the very early stages in these inquiries," he said.

"We have two victims found in different parts of the city at different times.

"We cannot say if they are linked. Speculation about a possible link or motives may be unhelpful to these investigations and I am sure we can all agree that it is in all our interests to make sure the killers are caught."

Officers are interviewing another man in connection with the west Belfast murder. He was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital with a gunshot wound to his upper body at 0300 GMT on Monday.

He said that he had been shot in the Bog Meadows area and it was when police went to the area they found the body of a man, believed to have been aged in his mid-30s.

Police are still trying to identify the man found in Elmfield Street and DS Clarke said they do not believe he has been reported as a missing person.

He is about 5ft 8ins tall and was wearing blue jeans, white socks and a grey zip up Londsdale top.

Police are investigating reports of a disturbance in the area during the night and have been following a number of lines of inquiry including searches.

Father Aidan Troy, a north Belfast priest who administered the last rites to the Elmfield Street victim, said that the situation was very difficult.

"It would be impossible to identify the person and that's the shocking part of it.

"I'm just waiting round because some family's going to get news at some stage that a son, a brother, whatever, has died and that's a horrendous scene around there."

West Belfast MP and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said his thoughts were with the bereaved families.

"While the circumstances surrounding the two deaths is not yet clear, if they were killed, then anyone with any information should bring that information to the police and should co-operate to bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.

SDLP assembly member Alex Attwood said the deaths were reminiscent of "the bad old days".

"But if we are going to have better days, then people need to help the police with this inquiry," he said.