The leader of a Northern Ireland party linked to an outlawed Protestant group has resigned in protest after the paramilitary gang killed one of its own members in violation of its peace commitments, AP reported. Police and politicians have blamed the Ulster Volunteer Force for last week's killing of 43-year-old Bobby Moffett. The UVF veteran was gunned down in front of shoppers in a hard-line Protestant district of Belfast called the Shankill. Other UVF figures in the Shankill since have threatened to attack people who come to Moffett's funeral Friday. Dawn Purvis, who has led the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party for the past three years, said Thursday she has quit and will become an independent in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She was the party's only Assembly member. -- SPA
