Loyalist suspects released by RUC

THREE men who were being questioned by the RUC about serious crime in the Portadown area were freed on Saturday.

THREE men who were being questioned by the RUC about serious crime in the Portadown area were freed on Saturday.

The three, all believed to be prominent local loyalists, were arrested during early morning raids on homes in the Portadown area on Tuesday.

Police have intensified the investigation into the murder of Catholic taxi driver, Michael McGoldrick, in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and are reported to be treating it as a sectarian killing.

Meanwhile, according to reports at the weekend, the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association has publicly criticised the political representatives who speak for the organisation.

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The Mid-Ulster faction, recognised to be the most hard line and opposed to the loyalist ceasefire attacked Mr Gary McMichael, leader of the Ulster Democratic Party, and Mr David Ervine, spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party.

The group asserted that the peace process was tied to a nationalist agenda and that recent IRA and INLA attacks meant that the conditions for the loyalist ceasefire no longer held.

Although the UDA leadership has noted that the Mid Ulster brigade had denied murdering McGoldrick, loyalist involvement is still suspected.