As loyalist feud tensions continued it was last night (Monday) confirmed that the UVF and UDA had resurrected the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC).
The CLMC was the paramilitary umbrella group which announced the UDA and UVF ceasefires in October 1994.
By the end of the 1990s it was disbanded because of loyalist infighting.
It is understood that the UVF and UDA secretly re-established the group last year but excluded the LVF.
In one of its first acts it is believed that the CLMC has banned shops in loyalist areas from selling the Sunday World newspaper.
In April 2003 the UDA was blamed for threats against shops in loyalist areas selling the paper.
The latest intimidation from loyalist paramilitary groups came as the PSNI was criticised by unionist and nationalist politicians for failing to take action as 300 UVF members took over the Garnerville housing estate in east Belfast on Sunday night.
Removal workers last night carried possessions from homes in the loyalist estate, which families with perceived LVF links had earlier been told to leave.
Politicians accused the police of turning a "blind eye" to the UVF actions.
Democratic Unionist East Antrim assembly member Sammy Wilson warned that the PSNI's failure to crack down on the UVF undermined public confidence in policing.
"For people watching this... to see the police looking so powerless only undermines the credibility and authority of the police," he said.
SDLP South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said it was outrageous that paramilitaries felt "so emboldened that they can gather and intimidate people in broad daylight". He said: "We have seen the UVF yet again run amok in their feud with the LVF."
UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said police were obliged to take action if the law had been broken.
Sinn Féin South Belfast assembly member Alex Maskey accused unionist politicians of having turned a "blind eye" to loyalist paramilitary activities for years.
"This attitude has been repeated again throughout this latest feud as, night after night, attacks have taken place across north and east Belfast with minimal comment from either main unionist party," he said.
PUP leader David Ervine said the UVF was present on the estate at the request of residents who, he said, were fed up that the police had failed to act against the LVF.
However, Chief Superintendent Henry Irvine denied that the PSNI was allowing the UVF to 'police' the estate.
"We are very much aware of the concerns of the local community," he said.
"These situations cannot be resolved by the police alone.
"Let me reassure you that my officers are on the ground and working hard to resolve tensions."
July 27, 2005
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This article appeared first in the July 26, 2005 edition of the Irish News.
