English fascists to join loyalists at Drumcree

The Royal Ulster Constabulary has refused to ban up to 20 members of the neo-Nazi group Combat 18 from travelling to the Drumcree stand-off in Northern Ireland this week.

The English fascists - from Bolton, Burnley and Preston - are staying with members of the outlawed Loyalist Volunteer Force in Co Armagh during the height of the Protestant marching season.

During their last trip to Mid Ulster, Combat 18 attacked Chinese families in Portadown and openly supported loyalist terrorism. The organisation, which hero-worships Hitler, has praised convicted London nail-bomber David Copeland and called for an end to all loyalist ceasefires.

The Observer has established that the neo-Nazis will be staying with LVF members on Portadown's Corcrain and Brownstown estates from 7 July. A number of Combat 18 members have also been promised accommodation in nearby Tandragee.

The trip marks the healing of a rift between the groups. Combat 18 opposed the LVF ceasefire and, for a period, supported the Orange Volunteers-Red Hand Defenders movement which killed Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson.

However, contact between Combat 18 and the LVF was maintained through a young loyalist in Portadown who has recently become a born-again Christian. 'Ordained' by convicted loyalist murderer Pastor Kenny McClinton, this man still holds white supremacist views.

A senior RUC officer told The Observer : 'Banning this crowd would just give them credibility which they don't deserve. They could easily slip into Northern Ireland via Dublin if we did ban them.'

One of Combat 18's chief supporters in Northern Ireland is Shaun Leighton, a convicted loyalist terrorist from Ballymoney in Co Antrim. Leighton has written for Combat 18 publications and websites. He has also maintained contact with Steve Sergeant who helped recruit David Copeland into the fascist splinter group, the National Socialist Movement.

Sergeant's brother, Charlie, worked for Special Branch as an informant passing intelligence to the Metropolitan Police about loyalist terrorists' activities in southern England. Charlie Sergeant also had links with the largest loyalist terrorist group, the Ulster Defence Association, and convicted gun-runner James Portinari. Sergeant is now serving life for the murder of fellow Combat 18 member Stephen Castle. Castle was an ally of Bill Browning, a former British soldier who served in Northern Ireland and is now thought to lead Combat 18.

Mainstream loyalist leaders in Belfast remain suspicious of linking up with British fascists because they suspect many of them are working for the security services.

Brendan MacCionnaith, spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, was arrested yesterday after disturbances between nationalist demonstrators and the RUC.