The leader of the North's Progressive Unionist Party has been warned he is being targeted for assassination by rival guerrillas.
The threat against Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader David Ervine follows a fatal shooting earlier this week which sparked fears of a feud among loyalist factions.
Brian Stewart, a suspected member of the LVF, was shot dead as he arrived for work at an industrial estate in east Belfast on Tuesday.
A source close to the PUP said Mr Ervine and a number of other senior figures in the party and in the UVF had since been warned by police to step up their personal security after intelligence officers learned of the threat against them.