It is possible that members of the Ulster Volunteer Force may have been behind an attempt to bomb a seaside town earlier this week, a leading loyalist politician claimed today.
Progressive Unionist Assemblyman David Ervine, whose party is linked to the UVF, said while the organisation itself was at pains to stress that it was not behind the failed attack in Ballycastle, County Antrim, individual members may have been involved.
The East Belfast MLA said: "It is my understanding, my clear understanding, it has been told to me that the UVF was not responsible.
"However I cannot imagine that they can stand over every member they have. We are going to have to wait and see what way the chips fall on this one."
The security forces investigating the attempted attack on Tuesday during the Auld Lammas Fair blamed UVF members for leaving a device in a white car consisting of two cylinders, a detonator and a timing device.
It was claimed the bomb could have resulted in the biggest loss of life since the Real IRA attack on Omagh in August 1998.
The PUP initially denied claims that the Ulster Volunteer Force were behind the planting of the device on Tuesday at the fair which was attended by thousands of tourists and market traders.
The attack occurred amid growing concerns about the state of the loyalist paramilitaries' cease-fires.
The other main loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association, has been accused of being behind a number of pipe-bomb attacks and of using the cover name of the dissident loyalist group the Red Hand Defenders to claim responsibility for a series of shootings.
The UDA ceasefire is currently under review by the Government and security chiefs but has not yet been declared as having broken down.
PA