A man has been arrested by police in Belfast investigating the murder of republican Kevin McGuigan by suspected IRA members.
It is the 12th arrest over the killing, the fallout from which has threatened to topple power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
Police believe the killing of Mr McGuigan in the east of the city was a revenge attack by republican associates of former Provisionals commander Gerard “Jock” Davison, who was shot dead in May.
The killing has prompted Democratic Unionist calls for David Cameron to intervene and suspend the devolved Assembly in Belfast and order renewed negotiations, as well as some form of independent monitoring of the IRA ceasefire.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief inspector John McVea said: “Detectives from Serious Crime Branch, investigating the murder of Kevin McGuigan, have arrested a 41-year-old man in East Belfast this morning, Wednesday September 2nd.
“The suspect has been taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim Police Station for questioning.”
PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton has said the Provisional IRA still exists and some members were involved in the murder of the father-of-nine last month.
The revelations have shaken the political establishment in Northern Ireland, following Sinn Féin assurances the IRA had gone away and the assessment of a 2008 British and Irish government-appointed Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) report which declared that the IRA has disbanded its terrorist structures and relinquished the leadership necessary to wage war.
PA