LEADING loyalist Dee Stitt has apologised to a journalist who received a recent death threat - but denied it came from the North Down UDA.
In April a police warned the Belfast-based reporter of an imminent risk to their safety from a section of the terror group.
At the time the NUJ said the threat was "a direct result of their reporting on criminal activities associated with that paramilitary organisation".
The reporter has received similar threats from the UDA in the past.
Stitt however dismissed claims of a threat as "utter nonsense". "No death threat was sent," he said.
"I spoke to them (UDA) it's not like I forget, I know all these people, some of them are my friends, this is the pathway I chose to lead them out of conflict and lead them into transition, but I still have an inroad, I still have a line of communication", he said
"Why would they do that, it would be totally counter productive and it was giving people ammunition to come at me, so was that the rationale?
"It is my understanding there wasn't a UDA threat, I deplore any threat to any journalist. They have to be allowed to do their work and if that person was threatened I apologise now through you. But it didn't come from me and I can only wonder why it came at that time", he added.
Stitt says following a recent transitional statement from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) that anyone involved in criminality will be expelled from the organisation.
While denying allegations that he is a UDA commander he admits the organisation continued to recruit young men into the paramilitary group until quite recently - but he says the North Down UDA is now "retired".
"I only have influence within East Belfast and North Down, there are all sorts of other factions living in North Down but I gave that LCC directive to the people I have influence on just last week.
"I can say is that the East Belfast and North Down UDA are ready for transition. We have our plan in place and ready to be submitted to the Executive office, the North Down UDA are retired.
"There was recruitment up until recently within the UDA and that has to stop and that's all part of the transition, we've said in the east Belfast UDA no one is to be recruited", he added.
