Police were questioning three men today in connection with the murder of a top loyalist in a packed shopping street.

A 31-year-old man was arrested today by police investigating the murder of a top loyalist on a packed Belfast shopping street.

A man arrested by police in the North investigating the murder of a top loyalist on a packed Belfast shopping street was released today without charge.

A man has been arrested by police investigating the murder of a top loyalist on a packed Belfast shopping street.

A MASSIVE 600-lb bomb planted close to the border with the North was intended to murder police officers, a security chief said last night.

The last remaining armed loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have pledged to decommission all their weapons within six months, the British Government announced today.

The decommissioning body led by General John de Chastelain has confirmed that the UVF has disarmed.

THE Government has welcomed the announcement by loyalist groups that they have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule.

The Ulster Defence Association will not receive public money in exchange for destroying weapons, the North’s deputy First Minister said today.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule, it was announced today.

Mary McAleese has welcomed the statements by Loyalist paramilitary groups in the north confirming they have started to decommission their weapons.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North today confirmed they have started to decommission their weapons.

The North’s loyalist communities must be freed from the shadow of the gun through the complete removal of illegal weapons, the Church of Ireland said today.

Three loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have started to decommission their weapons after painstaking behind-the-scenes efforts to secure disarmament.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson has held talks with loyalist paramilitary groups to secure their full support for peace, it was revealed tonight.

A LOYALIST ceasefire in the north is to be recognised, the Northern Ireland secretary said yesterday.

A loyalist ceasefire in the North is to be recognised, the Northern Secretary said today.

A loyalist ceasefire in North is to be recognised, the Northern Ireland Secretary said today.

Disgruntled members of the North’s two largest loyalist paramilitary groups have carried out attacks as the organisations move slowly away from violence, it was claimed today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today meet the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party after the North’s ceasefire watchdog publishes its latest report.

The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party will today choose David Ervine’s successor as leader.

A Presbyterian minister was forced to stand down today as chairman of the Loyalist Commission.

Gardaí may have covered-up the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago because of his killers’ links with British military intelligence, an Oireachtas committee heard today.

The Ulster Defence Association was formally accused today of gunning down one of its former brigadiers, Jim Gray.

The North’s two largest loyalist paramilitary groups were tonight urged to declare a definitive end to criminal and paramilitary activity.

There is reason to hope a violent feud between loyalist paramilitary groups may be drawing close to an end, a senior unionist politician said today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today reiterate his call to loyalists to build stability within their communities in the North.

The British government has announced that it no longer recognises the Ulster Volunteer Force ceasefire.

Here are some of the key episodes in the peace process since the IRA announced its historic ceasefire almost 11 years ago:

Loyalists would like to see a clear and unambiguous acceptance from the IRA that the way forward for republicanism is only through politics, Progressive Unionist leader David Ervine said today.

Police in Belfast were today investigating the possibility that an overnight murder attempt at a house in the city may have been part of a bitter loyalist paramilitary feud.

A senior loyalist politician in Northern Ireland challenged the British government today to have him arrested if it believed his party had a say over what the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando do.

The Progressive Unionist Party, linked to the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commandos, has been given a week today to make a case to the British government on why they should be given their Northern Ireland Assembly allowances.

Flashy loyalist paramilitaries' cash is easier to seize than top major republicans' illegal wealth, a crimefighter has claimed.

The British Assets Recovery Agency has doubled its investigative staff as part of a developing offensive against crime bosses in Northern Ireland, it was revealed tonight.

FIGHTING loyalists forced a judge to abandon plans to deliver a verdict at a tense murder trial in Belfast yesterday.

Fighting loyalists forced a judge to abandon plans to deliver a verdict at a tense murder trial in Belfast today.

Fighting broke out as a judge prepared to deliver his verdict today in the case of a brother and sister accused of involvement in the murder of a leading loyalist.

It is still unclear whether Northern Ireland’s largest loyalist terror group can end its involvement in organised crime and paramilitary activity, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) said today.

President Mary McAleese was today making her first official visit to Belfast since apologising for controversial comments about anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland.

Four houses belonging to a murdered loyalist terror boss were auctioned off for more than £250,000 (€360,300) tonight.

The IRA must address directly claims that it carried out the £26.5m (€38m) raid on a Belfast bank, a prominent loyalist claimed today.

The luxury home of a loyalist paramilitary leader seized by the Assets Recovery Agency was tonight sold at an auction for £410,000 (€585,280).

A police chief has been ordered to make a £1,500 (€2,143) payout to a top loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland, it emerged tonight.