A senior loyalist paramilitary freed early from prison under the terms of the Belfast Agreement has been sent back to jail amid heightening sectarian tensions in Belfast.
Gary Smith, a close associate of Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair, who also had his licence suspended last year, was arrested at his home in the Shankill area.
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Northern Ireland Secretary Mr John Reid said he took the decision after receiving a full report from RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
He said: "No-one is above the law. No-one is untouchable. No-one will be allowed to stir up sectarian hatred, to attack their neighbours or police officers.
"The people of Northern Ireland will not stand for it and neither will I. Northern Ireland is moving on. Those individuals who cannot move with it and leave their criminality behind will be dealt with by the full force of the law."
Smith was freed from Maze in September 1999. He was seized by police and sent to Maghaberry just hours after a loyalist mob attacked Catholic homes in a new outbreak of sectarian violence in north Belfast.
Houses and cars were damaged by paint bombs, bottles and stones. Nobody was injured.
PA