More bloodshed feared after murder of loyalist leaders

Two men were questioned yesterday by detectives investigating the murder of the UDA commander John "Grug" Gregg amid fears that a loyalist feud was worsening.

Gregg, who famously regretted not "finishing the job" when he shot Gerry Adams, now Sinn Fein president, in 1984, was returning from a football match when he was shot and killed with another member of the Ulster Defence Association, Robert Carson, 33.

The ambush was blamed on a feud that erupted between the organisation and former members of Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair's Shankill Road "C" Company last year.

Gregg, 45, the UDA's south-east Antrim commander, was one of the inner council members who took the decision to expel Adair and his associate John White from the organisation in September.

Upon his return to jail last month, 39-year-old Adair was reported to have described Gregg as a "bully boy and a thug" and challenged his rivals to "come and get me ... if you dare". Last week C Company withdrew from peace talks between the factions.

Gregg and Carson were returning from a Glasgow Rangers game in Scotland on Saturday night when they were attacked. They were ambushed in the docks area of Belfast when their taxi stopped at traffic lights. Two other men were injured, including the driver, who was in a critical condition. Loyalist sources said they believed the attackers may have been tipped off about Gregg's movements by someone travelling on the ferry from Scotland.

Gregg, who had survived two previous attempts on his life – a boobytrap device planted under his car and a pipe bomb left outside his home in Rathcoole – was jailed for 18 years for shooting Mr Adams in 1984. Asked if he had any regrets over the incident, he said: "Only that I didn't finish the job."

Loyalist sources said the remaining members of the UDA leadership would meet within days to decide its response to the killings. "There will be no knee-jerk reaction to it. They will just sit down in the cold light of day and decide what they are going to do," one said. According to sources, an end to hostilities had been agreed after meetings on Thursday and Friday, but the deal fell through when some of Adair's men visited him in prison.

Tommy Kirkham, who represents the Ulster Political Research Group which has links with the UDA, said Gregg had been one of the driving forces behind trying to resolve the feud. "We were very, very close to having it resolved and I think that was one of the main reasons why he was killed," he said. "I know that people both in and out of the organisation are stunned by this and will recover in their own time. In the meantime we have a double funeral to plan for."

Adair was returned to Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, last month in an attempt to quell the loyalist feud. Paul Murphy, the Northern Ireland Secretary, indicated he was acting on security advice that Adair was a danger to society.

Over the weekend the homes of three loyalists were targeted in separate attacks linked to the feud. The double murder would bring to four the number of people killed so far.

The Northern Ireland Security minister, Jane Kennedy, said: "The people of Northern Ireland are sick of bracing themselves for yet another spat of brutal killings and shootings among criminals."

Two men had been arrested in Belfast in connection with the deaths of Gregg and Carson, police said.

* Dissident republicans were believed to be responsible for a bomb attack on a Territorial Army camp in south Belfast last night. No injuries were reported.