The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said that the killing of Mr Frankie Curry served no purpose.
"The people of Northern Ireland have said they do not want violence and we should all focus on the future because by implementing the agreement, violence like this will become a thing of the past," said Dr Mowlam, who is in Washington for St Patrick's Day.
The Ulster Unionist Party security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, said he was disappointed by the upsurge in violence with "two murderous attacks" in recent days. He condemned the murder of Mr Curry "no matter who's involved". Mr David Ervine of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), also in Washington for St Patrick's Day, declined to respond to a threat made against members of his party contained in a statement yesterday from the dissident loyalist grouping the Red Hand Defenders. The group, which was behind the murder of Ms Rosemary Nelson on Monday, has attributed Mr Curry's killing to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and has threatened action against the leaders of the UVF and the PUP membership.
"I'm not sure who's responsible for the death of Frankie Curry. I know his mother and his family and my sympathies go to that family. It's too difficult for me in a remote circumstance like Washington to comment properly," said Mr Ervine.
The Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) prisons spokesman, Mr John White, spoke with Mr Curry yesterday less than an hour before he was shot. "Frankie Curry is one of the most ardent loyalists that I have ever met and he committed his whole life to loyalism. For him to be murdered in this way is totally appalling."
The UDP is the political grouping associated with the UDA/UFF, and Mr White yesterday claimed that those groupings were not involved in the murder. "But I believe the circumstances suggest it was loyalists," he added.