By Brendan Anderson

An all-out turf war between rival “brigades” of the illegal Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was narrowly averted after two of the group’s most senior leaders held peace talks.

There were remarkable scenes close to Belfast city centre Monday when scores of members of the UDA’s North and South Brigades confronted each other as delicate negotiations took place nearby.

Over the weekend, tensions had risen in Loyalist areas when the rival brigades attacked each other’s bars and clubs. By Monday, the exterior of several of the Loyalist paramilitary group’s favourite watering holes were defaced and daubed with paint.

The fallout is said to have originated from a beating administered to a member of one of the brigades by members of another.

The atmosphere in Loyalist neighbourhoods was already explosive following the murder by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) of a demolition contractor. Jameson Lockhart was gunned down Friday at the site of a now demolished bar owned until recently by a UDA leader.

Lockhart is reported to have been close to members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), a volatile ultra-extremist group immersed in drug-dealing and racketeering while being violently opposed to the Good Friday Agreement. The LVF is backed by elements of the UDA, some of whose members are suspected of dual membership.

Terrified shoppers were caught up in Monday’s confrontation in the staunchly Loyalist neighbourhood of Sandy Road just a few yards from the heart of Belfast’s entertainment and restaurant district, the Golden Mile.

In scenes which would stretch the imagination if written into a Hollywood movie, the two UDA brigades eyeballed each other in the street as their brigadiers parlayed. Several police vehicles were parked in side streets but officers did not intervene.

South Belfast leader Jackie McDonald and North Belfast counterpart Andre Shoukri, who is of Egyptian descent, hammered out a truce allowing all sides to retreat with dignity intact.

Meanwhile, the LVF is expected to seek retaliation for the murder of Lockhart. Several leading members of the group and prominent UVF men are reported to be sleeping away from home.