Loyalist paramilitary chiefs ordered the execution of a colleague because he committed "treason", it was claimed tonight.
As fears of an all-out shooting war between rival terror chiefs in Belfast escalated after the murder of Mr Roy Green, the Ulster Defence Association accused him of acting as a double agent in a bitter internal feud.
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In a statement issued tonight, the organisation claimed Mr Green (32) told leaders he wanted ousted UDA commander Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair killed while all the time he was scheming against the feared terrorist's enemies.
The convicted drug dealer, who was gunned down outside a pub in south Belfast last night, was also blamed for passing on false information which led to an earlier murder in the bitter internecine dispute.
The statement said: "We regret the grief and sadness visited upon the Green family circle, but treason is treason."
Security chiefs now fear the second murder in the deadly loyalist feud will not be the last.
Police in Belfast tonight appealed to the loyalist community for co-operation in catching those involved in the bitter internal paramilitary feud which has now claimed its second life.
A senior detective investigating one of two tit-for-tat murders in the past week said there was only so much police could do on their own and needed help from the public to bring the feud between rival factions to an end and round up those responsible for the violence.
Police chiefs fear fresh bloodshed in the bitter power struggle between the Ulster Defence Association elements and Detective Superintendent Roy Suitters predicted the death toll could rise to six unless the feud was halted.
DS Suitters, speaking as police returned to the scene of the St Stephen's Day killing in a bid to jog the memories of local people, said they needed more help to tackle the feud.
"The people that are named in connection with these offences are arrested and questioned. We do everything we can but we need information, we need people to help us," he said.
"We can only carry out preventative work with the co-operation of the community. We need people to give us information that we can act on."
Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble branded the feud "appalling" and called on the police to involve the wider community in tackling it.
"The police are doing considerable work to protect lives, and I would ask them to use all the means at their disposal to end this destructive feud," he added.
Party colleague Michael McGimpsey, a minister in the suspended power-sharing executive and Assembly member for south Belfast, told the factions to use dialogue not gun fire to resolve their differences.
"Surely it is possible for both sides to find a way of talking their way through this.
"Dialogue is the only way of getting it stopped because each one of these murders begets another murder."
He was supported by the SDLP Assembly member for the area, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, who said there could be no justification for murder.
"We don't care what faction the victim comes from, we don't care what faction those who did this come from," he said.
Mr White, who has survived at least one bomb attack on his Co Antrim home during the feud, said he believed Green had been murdered for criticising the UDA leadership.
He said: "Mr Green would have been critical of the UDA leadership. He would be very critical of the way Johnny and myself have been treated and he would be also critical of the UDA leadership and the way they are leading the organisation."
Mr White added: "My understanding is that he was a very forthright and frank person and I think that is why he ended up dead last night."
PA