The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has said his officers are doing everything possible to prevent further killings in the loyalist feud.
Mr Hugh Orde was speaking after he met the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, to discuss the security situation following last weekend's double murder. There was a heavy police and British army presence in loyalist areas of Belfast and Co Antrim last night.
Unionist politicians appealed for calm and no further violence - but figures in the mainstream UDA insisted that there would be "sweeping retaliation" for the killing of its south-east Antrim commander, John Gregg (45), and his associate, Robert Carson (33). They were shot dead near Belfast docks as they travelled home from a Glasgow Rangers match.
The Shankill Road "C" company of the UDA, which supports Johnny Adair and has been involved in a four-month feud with the mainstream UDA, has admitted responsibility. The UDA yesterday warned all loyalists to isolate the Shankill Road unit or "face the consequences".
A senior UDA figure told The Irish Times that the paramilitary group would not listen to appeals not to retaliate. "We will get these people. They are not going to get away with what they did. They can't hide forever. It is only a matter of time."
Mr Orde yesterday strongly defended his force from allegations it is doing nothing to prevent the killings. He said that since the feud began, 37 people had been arrested and 17 charged. Guns, ammunition and bombs had been recovered, with 50 occupied homes and 100 unoccupied ones searched. "We are doing an awful lot. We would like to do more but we need support and information from the community," he said.
He admitted to being "slightly surprised" by last weekend's double murder.
The mainstream UDA believed the "C" company had been emasculated since Adair was returned to jail by the British government last month. He was expelled from the UDA last autumn in a dispute over drug-dealing, racketeering and his close relationship with the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force. Four people have since been shot dead.
The DUP MP for North Belfast, Mr Nigel Dodds, condemned the double murder and said he feared further violence.
"It is utterly deplorable people are losing their lives and that there is widespread fear and tension as a result of the feud currently going on within loyalism.
"It is time for people to act with calmness and restraint. I urge people not to get sucked into a vortex of violence."
The security forces must have the "necessary resources to try to keep a lid on the situation" and the feud must be ended "before more grief and suffering are caused".
Sinn Féin Assembly member Mr Gerry Kelly said the UDA was "tearing the heart" out of its own community. He also warned nationalists to be vigilant as they tended to be targeted when loyalists ended their feuds.
Alliance leader Mr David Ford called on both sides in the feud to "pull back from further violence".