Rival loyalists behind 'booby trap bomb'

Rival loyalists are believed to be behind a murder attempt today on a paramilitary leader on the outskirts of north Belfast.

John Gregg, leader of the UDA’s South East Antrim Brigade discovered a booby trap bomb underneath his car outside his house in the loyalist Rathcoole Estate.

Army bomb experts defused the device, a tin packed with explosives, at Nendrum Gardens.

A number of families were evacuated from their homes as the security forces cordoned off the area and carried out a controlled explosion on the vehicle.

Loyalist sources are linking the incident to a simmering row between Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair and his former colleagues in the UDA.

On Friday, a bomb was planted outside the home of John White, a close friend of Adair.

White, who was expelled from the UDA’s political wing, the Ulster Political Research for siding with Adair, blamed the South East Antrim Brigade for leaving the device at his home in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.

Gregg, a former loyalist prisoner, is a member of the leadership that expelled Adair from the organisation.

Last month, a number of families were moved from their homes and the UDA leadership warned Adair and White that action would be taken if threats and intimidation continued.

A loyalist source said that today’s incident could raise the stakes in the row between Adair’s “C Company” in west Belfast and the UDA leadership.

“It is getting dirty. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured,” added the source.