A senior loyalist paramilitary was being questioned tonight about the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
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A poster calling for an inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane
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Friends of William "Mo" Courtney, 39, a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association, claimed his arrest was part of a deliberate campaign of victimisation by the security forces in Northern Ireland.
Mr Finucane was shot dead in front of his wife and family when gunmen burst into their house in north Belfast in February 1989.
The British government is resisting pressure for an independent public judicial inquiry over claims that RUC Special Branch and police informers colluded in the killing.
But a senior judicial figure, who is expected to be appointed next month to examine the shooting - and deaths linked to five other disputed incidents - will have the power to call a full public investigation.
Mr Courtney was arrested at his home at Fernhill Heights in the Glencairn estate and taken to Lisburn police station, Co Antrim, to be questioned by members of the inquiry team headed by the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir John Stevens.
His detention followed the murder in January of another UDA man, William Stobie, 49, who was shot dead by former associates a fortnight after charges against him of murdering Mr Finucane were withdrawn.
It was around this time that Ken Barrett, also a loyalist paramilitary from north Belfast, and his family, were taken into protective custody by the Stevens team.
He is now getting a round-the-clock guard at a secret address in Britain after threats on his life in Belfast.
No-one has been accused of Mr Stobie's murder, but detectives believe leading UDA men were involved.
A spokeswoman for the Stevens investigation said today that a man was detained in Belfast at 7.30 a.m. for questioning about the Finucane murder.
Friends later confirmed it was Mr Courtney, one of the most high ranking UDA men in the city.
John White, of the Ulster Political Research Group, claimed the arrest was part of a relentless campaign by the security forces against loyalists.
He said: "Yet they (the British government) are talking about granting an amnesty for IRA people who have not even faced the courts.
"This arrest undermines confidence within the loyalist community because there is a feeling the [British] government is only concerned with placating nationalists."
The Stevens team is due to finalise a report next month of their investigation into the collusion claims.
PA