Northern Ireland faces new tension on Thursday. Suspected Protestant extremists shot and killed a man during a New Year's Eve attack on a pub in a Belfast Roman Catholic zone. Four other men suffered wounds and a fifth was also hurt but his injuries were not specified.
Police say the attack has the hallmarks of a sectarian shooting.
The raid followed fears that pro-British guerrillas would target Catholic nationalists in reprisal for the assassination of a Protestant militia leader, Billy Wright, who was buried Tuesday. No group admitted the pub attack but security analysts feel it was the work of Protestant gunmen. British army patrols during the daytime have now been resumed. Security sources in Northern Ireland are saying that they are taking the threat seriously and they believe that the terrorist group has the capacity to mount a sustained campaign of violence. If it does not, the LVF intends bringing the war to the Irish government and the Irish people.