A LEADING Co Armagh loyalist has said he will defy a threat from the Combined Loyalist Military Command that he will be killed if he does not leave Northern Ireland within 72 hours.
In a statement last night, the CLMC, which represents the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando, said Mr Billy Wright must leave Portadown or face the consequences. A similar demand was also issued against another loyalist, Mr Alexander Kerr.
Mr Wright, a high profile loyalist in the mid Ulster area, played a prominent role in the Drumcree standoff last month. He held talks there with the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble.
"If I die then I will die believing what fellow unionists believe in," he said last night. "I believe wholeheartedly that our country is now in a crisis and that somehow, some way the leadership of these movements have been used to enforce a form of politics that is leading Northern Ireland into a united Ireland."
Making it clear he intended to be no easy target, he said: "I have survived many murder attempts by the IRA, who tried to impose their will upon me."
The UVF's mid Ulster unit refused to obey orders to disband from its Belfast leadership earlier this month. It is opposed to the loyalist ceasefire and the politics of the UVF's political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).
Mr Wright (36), a charismatic figure in loyalist circles, has been questioned regularly about crime and has survived several IRA and INLA assassination attempts.
The PUP has long regarded him as a thorn in its side. For months, senior loyalist politicians have told journalists privately that Mr Wright would be "dealt with".
Recent hardline statements by the PUP leader, Mr David Ervine, have been interpreted as a sweetener to keep militant loyalists on board despite the action taken against Mr Wright.
The 72 hour death threat came into operation at midnight last night. Another leading loyalist who is currently in jail, Mr Alexander Kerr, was ordered to leave the North on release.
Mr Kerr is on remand with two, other men accused of setting up a meeting between journalists and illegal organisation last week.
Mr Kerr (35) originally lived in south Belfast, but moved to Portadown recently.
The CMLC warned him to stay in isolation in prison and to leave the North within 72 hours of his eventual release.
"Failure by either man to comply with this directive will results in summary justice," the statement said. It warned that anyone supporting the men would face similar treatment.
The threat was condemned by Mr Ian Paisley jnr, of the DUP. A threat to any individuals, by any organisation, was "contemptible, repugnant, and I condemn it with every ounce of strength I have".