LOYALIST leader Mark Haddock smirked as he dispatched a hit team to gun down a paramilitary rival, a member of the murder plot has told a court.

Loyalist leader Mark Haddock smirked as he dispatched a hit team to gun down a paramilitary rival, a self-confessed member of the murder plot told a court in Belfast today.

Loyalist leader Mark Haddock was kept apart from 13 co-accused as one of the biggest paramilitary murder trials in decades began in the North today.

A loyalist leader and 13 of his alleged associates are due in the dock today as one of the biggest paramilitary murder trials in decades begins in the North.

A top loyalist and a former leading member of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Mark Haddock, was today charged with the murder of a 39-year-old man in the North more than a decade ago.

Loyalist Mark Haddock was charged tonight with the murder of a 39-year-old man in 1997.

NORTH Belfast loyalist leader Mark Haddock has been arrested in jail for questioning over four murders during the Troubles.

Another man was arrested today in connection with the murder of a leading loyalist during a bloody paramilitary feud in the North.

An eighth man was charged tonight in connection with the murder of a leading loyalist during a bloody feud in the North.

Two more men will appear in court today charged with the murder of a leading loyalist during a bitter feud in Belfast nearly a decade ago.

Three more men were arrested today by police investigating the murder of a leading loyalist during a bitter feud in Belfast nearly a decade ago.

The PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team has charged a second man in connection with the murder of a leading loyalist paramilitary more than eight years ago.

A 39-year-old man was arrested today in connection with the murder of a leading loyalist paramilitary nearly a decade ago.

A loyalist leader will appear in court today charged with gunning down a rival during a bloody paramilitary feud in the North.

A top loyalist was tonight charged with the murder of another Protestant paramilitary in the North.

A top loyalist was arrested at a jail in the North today by police investigating the murder of another Protestant paramilitary.

A human-rights barrister with more than 20 years' experience is to be invited to head the North's judiciary.

There is concern in the North after it was revealed that the British government shows no sign of paying the extra money needed to inquire into how police handled an informer linked to 19 mur

Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists today backed calls for an investigation into the murder of an ex-RAF man in the North.

A body representing rank-and-file police officers in the North has cut its ties with the Police Ombudsman's Office.

The relatives of four people murdered after alleged security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries in the North are suing the police.

IT is both ludicrous and hypocritical to hear Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern call on the British government to strengthen the powers of Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan in the wake of the appalling collusion she uncovered between the security forces in the North and loyalist paramilitaries.

Northern Chief Constable Hugh Orde will be questioned today about collusion between his officers and a gang of loyalist killers.

FORMER RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan last night resisted demands for his resignation over revelations that police in the North protected a loyalist murder gang.

PRESSURE mounted on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last night to demand the prosecution of Special Branch officers who helped a loyalist murder gang kill with impunity throughout the 1990s.

No police officers are to be charged in connection with their involvement in a collusion scandal in which loyalist paramilitary informers were allowed to commit up to 15 murders in the North, it was confirmed today.

A loyalist paramilitary gang was involved in up to 15 murders while working as police informers, a damning report revealed today.

Devastating evidence that loyalist paramilitary informers were allowed to get away with a series of murders in the North will be revealed today.

The North’s Police Ombudsman is carrying out a witch-hunt against RUC officers who defended the public against terror, a unionist peer claimed today.

A POLICE Ombudsman inquiry into a series of loyalist murders in Belfast in the 1990s took a fresh twist yesterday with the arrest of two former RUC detectives.

A top loyalist turned Special Branch agent was cleared today of trying to kill a nightclub bouncer.

Forensic scientists are examining material linked to the murder of Raymond McCord in a move welcomed as a breakthrough by the dead man's family.

Eyewitness claims that the Ulster Volunteer Force was involved in extortion and other criminal activities were today cited by Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon as a reason for her unease over her party’s decision to link up with the Progressive Unionists in the Stormont Assembly.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has agreed to meet the father of a loyalist murder victim whose death is at the centre of a major collusion inquiry, it was revealed tonight.

The father of a man murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force says he believes new forensic tests could finally lead to charges being brought.

Democratic Unionist MEP Jim Allister was accused of shameless opportunism today after he attacked rival Ulster Unionists for joining forces at Stormont with a loyalist politician.

Another Ulster Unionist has defected to the UK's Conservatives, it emerged tonight.

An Ulster Unionist councillor is defecting to the Conservatives in protest at the party’s deal with the Progressive Unionist Party, it emerged today.

Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey today vowed to stick with his strategy of persuading loyalist paramilitaries to abandon violence, despite criticism from a senior colleague.

A second man has been charged with trying to kill top loyalist Mark Haddock.

THE arrest of a man and woman over the murders of six Catholic men, shot dead as they watched the World Cup in 1994, may be linked to an ongoing Police Ombudsman investigation into Special Branch collusion with loyalists.

ROGUE loyalist Mark Haddock’s one-time most trusted friend appeared in court yesterday accused of trying to kill him.

Rogue loyalist Mark Haddock was shot after agreeing to a last-minute change of rendezvous with his would-be killers, it was claimed tonight.

A man will appear before a magistrate in Belfast today accused of trying to kill rogue loyalist Mark Haddock.