LVF stands down as bloody loyalist feud ends

THE leadership of the Loyalist Volunteer Force last night ordered all its military units to stand down.

The move, which takes effect from midnight, is a direct response to the IRA’s decision to decommission its weapons arsenal.

It also followed a formal end to the feud between the LVF and the rival Ulster Volunteer Force.

The LVF was formed by Portadown loyalist Billy Wright after the leadership of the larger paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force, stood down his unit in 1996.

Wright, who was nicknamed King Rat, was later charged with menacing behaviour and sent to the Maze Prison.

On December 27, 1997, he was assassinated by prisoners who were members of the Irish National Liberation Army, and who had escaped from their wing via a roof.

Wright was shot dead at point-blank range as he sat in a prison van in the forecourt waiting to be taken for a visit.

The LVF statement came just hours after it was announced the bitter loyalist feud, which claimed four lives, is over.

The Loyalist Commission said the dispute between the rival paramilitary groups had been resolved.

In a statement the commission, which includes politicians, churchmen and paramilitaries, said: “We now believe that the feud has permanently ended.”

The UVF was blamed for the murders of four men in Belfast during July and August. The victims were Jameson Lockhart, 25, shot dead on the lower Newtownards Road on July 1; Craig McCausland, 20, shot dead in his Dhu Varren Park home in north Belfast on July 11; Stephen Paul, 28, shot dead in Wheatfield Crescent in north Belfast on July 30 and Michael Green, 42, shot dead in Sandy Row on August 15.

The DUP’s Nigel Dodds welcomed the news but said it was too late for the bereaved families.

The North Belfast MP said: “The ending of murder and bloodshed on our streets will be particularly welcome in the north Belfast area which has borne the brunt of the trouble.

“Communities have been set on edge and put into turmoil.

“I pay tribute to those who have worked so hard to bring this resolution about.

“Let us hope and pray that this announcement will be evidenced on the ground and that people’s lives will return to normal.”

A special report by the Independent Monitoring Commission said the LVF carried out two murder attempts but concluded their actions were mainly a response to UVF attacks.