Loyalist Attack Could Ignite Feud

Author unknown
Originally published between December 29, 2000 and January 1, 2001

The weekend shooting of a leading Portadown loyalist could signal the end of a precarious loyalist truce.

Ron Buchanan has close links to the Fulton family who are connected to the loyalist paramilitary LVF in Portadown.

One report indicated the intended target was a close associate of the victim, but was not present when the attack took place.

The attack may be in retaliation for the LVF murder of local UVF "commander" Richard Jameson in January last year, close to the scene of the latest shooting. The Portadown-based LVF broke away from the UVF in 1996 under the leadership of Billy Wright, leading to intense hostility between the two groups.

This attack comes only two weeks after a truce was declared between the main loyalist factions, the UDA and UVF, in a statement which pointedly excluded the LVF.

But a series of fatal stabbings over the Christmas period, including one in the Lower Shankill, has maintained a sense of crisis in loyalist areas.

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