A republican terror group styling itself as the "new IRA" is suspected of shooting dead a man in his 40 and dumping his body in a lake in north Belfast.

The victim, named locally as Kevin Kearney, was found in the water inside Alexandra Park off the Antrim Road.

The father of four lived on the Dunmore housing estate not far from the murder scene. His body was discovered on Wednesday at around 3pm.

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's special crimes branch are treating the death as murder.

Republican sources confirmed on Thursday that the new IRA was behind the murder in the park, which is still divided by a so called "peace wall" created to separate Protestant and Catholic zones. Construction of the barrier began on 1 September 1995, the first day of the Provisonal IRA's ceasefire. It was built to keep rival gangs of nationalist and loyalist youths from rioting in the park despite the nascent peace process.

There is no possibility of any sectarian motive in the killing, as Kevin Kearney was a Catholic.

In a terse statement, the new IRA said the victim was shot after it carried out "an investigation".

Kevin Kearney is the second person to be killed by the terror group following the murder of prison officer David Black in an ambush on the M1 in November 2012.

The organisation is an amalgam of the Real IRA, independent republican terror units in areas such as East Tyrone as well as members of Republican Action Against Drugs in Derry.

The Democratic Unionist MP for North Belfast, Nigel Dodds, condemned the murder.

Dodds said: "The body was found in suspicious circumstances and the police have launched a murder investigation. The entire community will share in the sense of shock at this appalling news. I understand that the identity of the deceased is known to the police.

"Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased. I appeal for anyone who can assist the police investigation to pass on whatever information they have."