A Belfast loyalist was charged three months ago with possession of a list of over 150 prominent nationalists but some of those on the list were not told until last weekend.
The RUC said last night that a man charged with having material likely to be of use to terrorists had personal details of more than 150 people. It is understood he comes from a loyalist area of Belfast and that the list consisted mainly of prominent nationalists including the leader of a residents' group and a member of a well-known nationalist family.
The man was charged in February but an RUC statement said it did not have anything to suggest that an attack was being actively planned. It added: "The extensive list had to be fully researched in terms of its currency and accuracy. If at any stage in the research there had been reason to fear imminent attacks on the people concerned, immediate steps, of course, would have been taken."
The statement added: "This was not, and is not, the case. The research having been completed, the people actively named in the list were then informed as a precaution." The police spokesman said the people on the list were informed at various times, "some of them last weekend".