PSNI arrest man in loyalist murder probe

A man was being questioned today about the murder of a paramilitary chief which ignited a new feud among rival loyalists in Northern Ireland.

Detectives investigating the murder of Jim Johnston arrested a man this morning, just hours after releasing without charge another man who had been questioned in connection with the killing.

Johnston, 45, a builder who had links with the Red Hand Commando terror group, was gunned down outside his home in the Co Down village of Crawfordsburn on Thursday.

Police believe he might have been killed in a fallout over drugs and the murder of LVF member Stephen Warnock in Newtownards last September.

As tensions heightened in loyalist circles in Belfast, fighting broke out on Saturday night between two sides believed to be involved in a festering dispute.

At least 100 people were involved in the disturbances, outside the Bunch of Grapes pub on the Castlereagh Road in the east of the city.

One man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries and was today still in a critical condition.

Another man was shot during the fighting but his condition was said to be stable, police said.