Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, who was shot by John Gregg in a murder bid in the mid 1980s, yesterday called on the loyalist paramilitaries to disband.
"I think anyone being killed is a very bad thing. I had little connection with this man except that he tried to kill me at another point in my life. I think what is happening within loyalism should stop, it is not good for the city of Belfast and it is not good for those involved and the organisations should disband and should let people live in peace.
"I don't want to speculate on what might happen now, but this peace process is about bringing about the conditions in which people can live on the basis of equality.
"Obviously these organisations are steeped in criminality and there is very little politics involved. It is a matter, and they may not listen to me, but it is a matter of appealing for good sense and for people to stop what they are doing. We clearly have put it to all public representatives of that unionist section of our people to play a key role, but the main responsibility lies with the organisations involved and their gunmen and they should cease," he said.
Meanwhile SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan said the killing of Mr Gregg demonstrated that the loyalist paramilitary groups were thoroughly murderous outfits.
"Not content over the years with attacking innocent Catholics, they have also turned on each other with a regularity and a viciousness that culminates in the sort of thing that happened on Saturday night.
"I think one of the positive things in policing under Hugh Orde is that we have seen the police intervening, interfering and intercepting loyalist paramilitaries and that has to continue in a very active and in very effective way," he said.