A Northern Ireland police chief told postal workers today that he was 90 per cent sure the loyalist threat against them was bogus - but he could not guarantee it.
Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan met leaders of the Communication Workers Union in Belfast to give them an "honest assessment" of the threat issued by the Red Hand Defenders, who claimed responsibility for the weekend murder of postal employee Daniel McColgan.
He said following the series of statements from the RHD and Ulster Freedom Fighters it was now clear the initial threat against Catholic postal employees "did not come from those who murdered Mr McColgan".
Mr McQuillan added he had made it clear to the CWU that he was "90 per cent sure" the initial coded call making the threat "was not a genuine call".
He added: "However there is always that 10 per cent, that is why we have had such an extensive operation across north Belfast in the last few days to try to deal with anything and to try to reassure the public.
"I said quite openly to them that this is Northern Ireland and nobody can give you any guarantees."
He said the Red Hand Defenders had been defunct as an organisation for some time and its code words were well known in loyalist circles.
"Virtually anybody with 20p can now phone up and claim to represent that organisation, that is the difficulty we face."
The CWU later met in Belfast to decide whether to continue the stoppage which they called because of threats.
Royal Mail urged the workers to return to normal working following a series of meetings with Security Minister Jane Kennedy and Mr McQuillan.
Consignia director for Northern Ireland, Sir John Semple, said: "The safety of our employees is obviously a chief concern but we believe we are now in a position to call upon all our staff to come back to work.
"These have been difficult times for all of us. While it is important that we continue to respect the memory of Danny, I believe we can now best do this by restoring the service to our customers as soon as possible."
Some post was delivered in Northern Ireland today but the Belfast workers remained off. A Royal Mail spokeswoman said there had been "a patchy service" across the province.
PA