Sources close to the mainline loyalist paramilitary organisations attribute the warnings about some major increase in violence at the weekend to the same groups which were behind disturbances surrounding previous Drumcree crises.
They say elements associated with the dissident loyalist group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), and ultra-loyalist elements associated with the Orange Order and the Democratic Unionist Party are behind the warnings of a weekend escalation.
Some of the warnings have come from the Rev Ian Paisley. On Tuesday, he said July 12th would be "settling day".
Also on Tuesday, Pastor Kenny McClinton, who served 16 years of a life sentence for murder and who is now associated with the LVF, issued a non-specific warning about increasing violence.
He spoke of "splinter" loyalist groups, which are cover-names being used by loyalists, and of the "balloon going up". He said: "I fear the very worst for this province."
Mr McClinton referred to groups which he named as the "Loyalist Patriotic Front, the Protestant Freedom Fighters, the Ulster Loyalist Action Force and the Protestant Reactionary Army".
A mainline loyalist paramilitary source said these names were covers, probably intended for use by dissidents like the LVF.
Similar cover names were used by the UDA and UVF for sectarian murders with which they did not wish to be associated.
The LVF has ostensibly declared a ceasefire and is seeking to have its 26 prisoners in the Maze prison included in the early release scheme for the other mainline paramilitaries. So far the British government has refused to grant early release to the LVF or dissident republican prisoners because it remains unconvinced the LVF intends refraining from carrying out murder attempts on Catholics.
The two main paramilitary groups, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) have so far directed that their members do not become involved in any organised way in violence.
However, members of both organisations are said to be taking part in rioting, attacks on Catholic homes and property and to be responsible for incidents in which shots were fired at the RUC in Belfast.
Loyalists insist both paramilitary organisations have issued orders that there be no violence in the areas where they are strong. There has been relatively little disturbance in areas such as the Shankill Road and east Belfast, with most of the disturbances confined to the edges of these areas.
Most of the violence of the past four nights has been confined to set-piece rioting by young loyalists in urban areas and assaults on isolated Catholic communities in rural areas. Loyalist sources in Belfast say this is very similar to the type of violence which accompanied the 1996 Drumcree stand-off.
Both mainline loyalist paramilitary organisations fear that if they are drawn into any serious campaign they will jeopardise the early release of their prisoners. Up to 80 UDA and UVF prisoners are due to be freed from the Maze at the end of the summer when the loyalist marching season ends.
The UDA's political wing, the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), was ejected from the Stormont talks for two weeks in March and subsequently suffered in the elections after its paramilitary wing murdered seven Catholics, apparently in retaliation for the murder of the LVF leader, Billy Wright.
The UDA is said to have undergone internal tensions in recent months. It is run by an "inner council" on which seven local commanders sit. Sources close to the organisation say some of the commanders have argued and there is virtually no communication between some of the Belfast commanders. A number of figures prominent in the UDA are also closely associated with drug dealing.
The UVF's "mid-Ulster" brigade issued a threat last weekend that if the security forces killed any of the Orangemen at Drumcree it would be regarded as an "act of war".
The UVF is to hold an annual commemorative demonstration in the Shankill area for one of its former leading figures, Trevor King, who was shot dead in 1994 by republicans. Previous commemorations have passed off without violence. A senior loyalist source said the biggest problem in areas where they had influence was "keeping the lid" on rioting by young loyalists.