The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, last night said he had held back from declaring that the UDA has broken its ceasefire in the wake of two nights of loyalist rioting in Belfast because he believed there was a danger he might unleash a fresh cycle of sectarian violence and potentially deal a fatal a blow to the peace process.
His comments came as an uneasy calm settled on north Belfast, scene of running battles between security forces and Protestant rioters on Wednesday and Thursday night.
Dr Reid said he made a "judgment call" after intelligence sources advised him the UDA leadership had ordered an end to the disturbances. Declaring that the organisation had breached its ceasefire might have further inflamed tensions and led to casualties, he told RTE's `Late Late Show'.
"These are very difficult judgements. If I get it wrong, then more people could die . . . we might have had deaths that could have been avoided and intercommunity riots - warfare almost," Dr Reid said.
There was "ample evidence" that the UDA was behind the clashes, during which police were targeted with petrol and pipe bombs and peppered with gunfire. If the organisation continued to stoke sectarian strife, Dr Reid said he would not hesitate to declare the ceasefire over and exclude it from the peace process.
Sounding a cautionary note, the Northern Secretary insisted there would be no summary rounding up of loyalist ring leaders if the ceasefire broke down. Northern Ireland had left5 internment behind and terrorist leaders would be subject to due process. Insisting he had not "done a deal" with the UDA leadership, Dr Reid said there had been no direct contact between security forces and the organisation.