Members of the Official IRA were responsible for the attempted shooting of a Sinn Fein party worker in the Markets area of south Belfast yesterday, republican sources claim.
The incident is said to have followed an escalation of friction between the Provisional IRA and the Officials in west and south Belfast in the past week. The trouble is said to have started when a Provisional supporter was badly beaten by Officials in the Markets area last weekend.
On Sunday local Provisional IRA members broke into the home of a 26-year-old Workers' Party member and shot him twice in the left thigh and once in the right thigh. He is still receiving treatment in hospital.
On Wednesday night five cars carrying up to 25 Provisionals appeared in an area of the Lower Falls normally regarded as under Official IRA influence. The Provisionals set up road checks outside the houses of prominent Official republicans. There was no violence but local people said it was clearly designed to intimidate local Officials.
According to usually reliable sources in Belfast, the Provisional IRA is looking for two members of the Official IRA from the Lower Falls in relation to yesterday's shooting. The sources say the Official IRA, known as "Group B", has lost much of its support in the past year following the breakaway of many of its members in Belfast and Newry. Members of the breakaway group in Belfast are believed to have been behind another kneecapping in west Belfast last weekend in an episode not connected to the present dispute.
A Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Sean Hayes, who is running in the Assembly elections, said the man who was fired on was one of his campaign workers. He said he believed it was "a definite murder attempt", and said the people in the area knew those behind the shooting. "The attack is the latest incident involving a well-known armed organisation in the area, who pretend not to exist," he said.
The man was walking through an alleyway to East Bridge Street from Friendly Street, close to the Waterfront Hall, when he came under fire at 6.45 a.m. Police said three shots were fired as the gunman ran after the Sinn Fein member. He fell to the ground at one stage but was not hit by any of the shots. The area was cordoned off by police for forensic examination.
Mr Hayes called on those behind the shooting, who he said were "criminals and gangsters", to end their "campaign of intimidation". He said the same people had assaulted a man in his 50s some weeks ago. However, there has been a series of incidents in the Markets area in recent months. It is believed a number of so-called punishment attacks were carried out by the Provisional IRA.
Mr Hayes said he did not believe republicans would be drawn into a feud. "Republicans are not so foolish to be drawn into a feud situation," he said. "They have an agenda they are working on, and it does not include feuds, but an end to all conflict."
