Death squad fears
Fears of loyalist death squad activity in North Belfast increased
last week when an Ardoyne woman received a sympathy card in the
post, addressed to her son who was killed by the UDA five years
ago.
Although addressed to the dead son it was his brother who was
named in the card. The man, who asked not to be identified in our
story in order to protect his family, said he was taking the
threat seriously. He now wants protection for his home given that
his family has been targeted on three separate occasions. In one
incident a loyalist put a gun to his mother's head.
This latest incident began on Monday 25 November after the RUC
arrested the man and took him to Antrim Road barracks. He was
thrown into the rear of an armoured personnel carrier, handcuffed
and badly beaten. The man, who has a heart complaint, was
examined by a doctor who sent him to the nearby Mater hospital.
However, fearing for his safety after he saw RUC personnel at the
casualty unit, he signed himself out on Tuesday.
Sinn Fein Vice president Maire Drumm was shot dead, by loyalists,
in the Mater in 1976.
The next morning the card arrived at his mother's house. She
moved only recently yet loyalists were able to pinpoint the new
address.
``The fact that a sympathy card was sent to his mother's home
after the RUC hospitalised this man is of great concern. It is
hardly coincidence that the threat arrived within two days of the
man's arrest by the RUC,'' said Ardoyne Sinn Féin councillor Mick
Conlon.