A number of dissident loyalists in the mid-Ulster area, who at the weekend received death threats purporting to come from the "Real IRA" telling them to leave the North or be shot, say they do not believe republicans are behind the warnings.
The loyalists - all opponents of the Belfast Agreement - claim "mainstream loyalist paramilitary groups" are behind the threats to their lives.
On Friday RUC officers in Lurgan and Portadown visited the homes of eight men and one woman to warn them of the "republican threat", which had been made in a coded telephone call to a local radio station. Also included in the list of those threatened was a leading Portadown loyalist, Mark Fulton.
Fulton, a close associate of the murdered LVF leader, Billy Wright, is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for arms offences. However, since then it is believed that Fulton was influential in persuading the LVF to begin decommissioning its weapons.
But loyalist sources in Portadown yesterday said they doubted the origin of the threats, claiming the "Real IRA" was "virtually non-existent" in the area.
"It has been common knowledge for some time that tension has been rising between loyalist groups in this area," said the source. "This has happened since the UVF re-formed in Portadown recently. The UVF support the agreement whereas dissident groups, such as the LVF, oppose it. Both are trying to control the area. Few loyalists in mid-Ulster believe the `Real IRA' are behind this latest threat".
That view was endorsed by one of the threatened loyalists. Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, the loyalist, who refused to be named, said: "The RUC told me the threat came from the `Real IRA' but I have no doubt the threat comes from mainstream loyalists. It is strange how this happens a few days after an LVF announcement to decommission weapons put pressure on the UFF and UVF to do the same."
The security forces are concerned tensions could spill over into violence.