A leading loyalist accused of murder during the recent feud was refused bail for a second time in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
But Mr Justice Weatherup told Mr Ihab Shoukri's lawyer that if outstanding forensic reports proved negative then steps could be taken to secure his release.
Mr Shoukri (29), from Alliance Road, north Belfast, has denied murdering Mr Alan McCullough (21), whose body was found in a shallow grave at Mallusk last June, eight days after he was driven away from his home in the lower Shankill.
Mr Shoukri and a co-accused, Mr William "Mo" Courtney, were alleged at a previous hearing to have been in the car.
Ruling later in Holy Cross case
Judgment was reserved yesterday in a High Court action over the loyalist protest at Holy Cross girls school in Belfast.
The mother of a pupil is seeking a declaration that the police failed in their duty to protect children and their parents. The behaviour of the protesters was compared in court to the treatment of black people in Alabama in the 1960s.