A firebomb found inside a Northern Ireland jail today is believed to be part of a campaign by loyalist and republican paramilitaries bidding to be segregated.
Amid increasing tensions inside Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, British army explosives experts were called in to defuse the incendiary device.
It had been posted into the high-security complex, which houses some of Northern Ireland's most dangerous paramilitaries and criminals - many of whom are desperate to be kept apart.
Prison Service chief Mr Peter Russell claimed the attack could have killed warders or inmates.
"To indiscriminately attack men and women providing an essential service to the community for simply doing their job is despicable," he said.
Last month, bullets and a detonator were discovered inside an ironing board at the jail, causing prison visits to be cancelled for days while a security operation was carried out.
Mr Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, said his members were working in a climate of fear.
PA