A 50-year-old woman has become the 17th person to be arrested over the murder of ex-IRA assassin Kevin McGuigan, the killing that has plunged Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government into crisis.
The woman was detained in Belfast and questioned by officers investigating McGuigan’s murder in August.
Three senior Belfast republicans, including Sinn Féin’s northern chairman, Bobby Storey, remain in custody and are also being questioned about the killing of the father of nine outside his home in east Belfast last month.
Storey is a close ally of the Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams. The two other men arrested earlier this week are Eddie Copeland and Brian Gillen.
It is alleged that McGuigan was shot dead by two gunmen in an execution-style killing in front of his wife in revenge for the murder of Gerard “Jock” Davison in May. Davison was a former Belfast commander of the IRA.
No one has been charged with killing McGuigan; one of the 17 people who have been questioned is facing charges over the possession of an automatic pistol. He was arrested during police search operations connected with the murder investigation.
