The cease-fires of the main paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland are intact, according to the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan. However, he stressed this did not mean individuals in those organisations were not engaged in violence.
Sir Ronnie also said yesterday that he had briefed the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, on the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) ceasefire and whether the group had been involved in the killing of Mrs Elizabeth O'Neill in Portadown last weekend. She died when loyalists threw a pipe bomb through the window of her home. The LVF denied involvement.
"I am on public record as saying I don't accept at face value the statement they issued in relation to the murder of Mrs O'Neill, and clearly the Secretary of State will take all my briefing into consideration in arriving at decisions she may or may not make in the coming days," he said.
Dr Mowlam is expected to decide this week if she accepts the LVF ceasefire is intact. If she does not, she may remove it from the list of organisations eligible for early prison release.
The UFF has reiterated that its ceasefire is intact after a UTV Insight programme on Tuesday alleged it was behind three acts of violence.
The programme blamed the UFF for the recent grenade attack on a bar on the Falls Road, the attempted shooting of a Catholic community worker on the Shankill Road and another shooting outside a bookmakers' shop in the Ardoyne.
"The UFF has a ceasefire in place and all its personnel are bound by that policy. The speculation that the UFF has been involved in recent attacks is contrived and untrue," said a statement.
However, there is widespread scepticism in security circles and informed sources have indicated that UFF commanders in Belfast last week admitted they had carried out the attacks but that they intended to "draw a line" under recent incidents and end the attacks.
Police in Larne, Co Antrim, yesterday described an explosive device found at a postal sorting office as extremely dangerous and one that could have killed. The device was discovered by a postman as he loaded his bag for delivery.