Security sources have expressed grave concern that the UDA feud is about to restart following the disappearance of a Shankill Road man whom they believe has been murdered.
A prominent loyalist is being questioned by detectives about the disappearance of Mr Alan McCullough (21). Detectives are linking his disappearance to the UDA feud. Mr McCullough is a former close associate of jailed leading loyalist Johnny Adair.
He was last seen leaving his home in Denmark Street in the Shankill area of the city on Wednesday night. He was driven away by two senior UDA men. A 40-year-old loyalist was arrested by police on Saturday night. He is being questioned about Mr McCullough's disappearance.
Det Supt Will Kerr, who is leading the hunt for the missing man, said police believed there was a paramilitary connection to the disappearance. Detectives feared the worst, he stated.
"We are concerned about Alan. At this stage, we have a belief that Alan may have been murdered." As the search operation continued, Supt Kerr added: "We are resourcing it as a murder inquiry. I was speaking to Alan's mother, brother and sister. They are very distressed."
The McCullough family have declined to talk to the media. There was speculation that the body of the missing man was dumped at the bottom of a reservoir in the Waterworks Park in north Belfast by his killers. But nothing was found during a two-day search by police divers. No clues were uncovered when police later searched a boat moored in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.
Mr McCullough had recently returned to the North after fleeing his home earlier this year following the UDA feud in which four people died. Adair's early release from prison under the terms of the Belfast Agreement was revoked by the British government and he was returned to jail.
After his Shankill Road "C" Company shot dead leading UDA commander, Mr John Gregg, in February, the UDA leadership ordered them to leave the North. Many of Adair's supporters fled on an overnight ferry to Scotland and dispersed across Britain.
Mr McCullough was among those who fled. The men and their families were warned they would be shot dead if they ever returned. Loyalist sources said Mr McCullough made contact with the UDA and pleaded to be allowed to come home in safety.
It is understood his family were also involved in the negotiations and were given certain guarantees. The sources said he returned to his Shankill home around a fortnight ago. Graffiti appeared on the Shankill at the weekend accusing a senior UDA figure of killing the missing loyalist. It was quickly painted over.
Security sources said they feared the loyalist feud would be reignited. Associates of Mr McCullough last night threatened to take revenge against the UDA leadership. His family is well known in loyalist circles. His father Billy "Bucky" McCullough was shot dead by the INLA in 1981. A 48-year-old man who is said to be a friend of Mr McCullough's was arrested on Saturday after police recovered ammunition from a car in the Twaddell Avenue area of north Belfast.