Unionist politicians have demanded that the UDA immediately end its internal feud which has left two men dead. The latest victim, Mr Roy Green (32), was shot dead in south Belfast on Thursday night.
A local Ulster Unionist Assembly member, Mr Michael McGimpsey, said: "This appears to be part of the ongoing loyalist feud. I would appeal to both sides to find a way to talk this dispute through. Unless we get a process whereby people on all sides can come together, this situation is only going to get worse."
"It is a matter of extreme urgency that those involved in the feud begin a process of mediation," Mr McGimpsey added.
There was no public support for the feud. "Surely it is possible for both sides to find a way to talk through this dispute? Dialogue is the only way of getting it stopped because each one of these murders begets another murder," he said.
Mr Green was shot near the Kimberley Bar in the Sunnyside Street area of the upper Ormeau Road. A man with him escaped unhurt.
Mr Green was a UDA member and an associate of the Shankill Road loyalist, Johnny Adair. The mainstream UDA is widely believed to have been responsible for his murder. A week earlier Adair's supporters shot dead Mr Johnathan Stewart (22) in north Belfast. He was the nephew of a senior loyalist figure.
An SDLP Assembly member, Dr Alasdair McDonnell, said there could be no justification for murder. "We don't care what faction the victim comes from. We don't care what faction those who did this come from. We don't accept that the victim was entitled to be gunned down like this. We don't accept that those who did it had any right to do it," he said.
It was "back to the bad old days", and he urged the Police Service of Northern Ireland to find those responsible.
The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, said the PSNI must "get on top" of the loyalist feud. "I would ask them to use all the means at their disposal to end this destructive feud. Loyalists must also be aware that they are excluding themselves from the role they seek in the political arena when society sees them only as gangsters involved in rackets, extortion and territorial feuds.
"Fears are high all over Belfast, and there are great anxieties that the situation will deteriorate further. I would call on loyalists to say what they themselves are prepared to do to de-escalate the situation," Mr Trimble said.