DEATH OF A HIT-MAN

A man gunned downed at the gates of a South Belfast primary
school on Thursday was responsible for the 1996 murder of former
commander of the INLA republican armed group, Gino Gallagher.

Kevin McAlorum Jnr was shot dead in the driveway of Oakwood
Primary School at Derriaghy after dropping a number of children
off at the school.

In what appeared to be a crefully planned ambush, McAlorum was
targeted by two gunmen after his car was rammed by a white van
as he left the school grounds.

It has been suggested that the killing of McAlorum may be a
revenge attack for the 1996 murder of leader Gino Gallagher.
Others, including INLA sources and the PSNI police, have
suggested a link to the drugs underworld of unionist
paramilitaries.

McAlorum was a despised figure after he was accused of carrying
out the murder of Gino Gallagher, a revered figure in the
Republican Socialist Movement.

The INLA denied McAlorum was ever a member and linked him to the
drugs trade of the unionist paramilitary UDA. They also described
him as being close to two former members who inspired a bloody
internal feud in 1996 which left eight dead, Hugh Torney and
Dessie McCleery,

"They were the ones who paid him to assassinate Gino," said one
insider.

Republicans in Belfast had little time for McAlorum. Sources
close to the INLA have denied, however, that the INLA killed Mr
McAlorum yesterday.

"This wasn't a case of getting revenge for Gino. The feud ended
when Hugh Torney was killed. That was the agreement at the time,
and the INLA would not break that agreement. Otherwise what
would be the point of having mediation in feuds?" said a senior
member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, which is linked
to the INLA.

McAlorum was also involved in the attempted murder of a leading
INLA member in west Belfast a month after the killing of Gino
Gallagher.

School children at the South Belfast school were horrified to
witness the killing.

Some parents and teachers cried to the children to "duck" and
"get down" as the gunmen fired at their victim at close range,
eyewitnesses reported.

"There were a lot of parents and they were the last group of
children coming in before school started, so quite a few people
were very stressed by what they saw and heard," said the head
teacher.