Are the UDA preparing for peace or milking the media?

Just what are the UDA actually doing, I wonder. Today saw two more high profile expulsions in the form of the Shoukri brothers (even though the courts didn't have enough evidence to convict them of membership in the first place). Expulsions like these, and that of Jim Gray in March last year, will no doubt be seen by some as an attempt to clean up the image of the organisation, but after 30 odd years of sectarian violence, surely one could be forgiven for being cynical and thinking they may be simple publicity stunts.

There's no doubt that many unionists and loyalists look at what Sinn Fein have achieved and think "Wow, look what terrorists can achieve with good PR". Certainly some people seem to be taking the UDA's actions at face value but the nature of the internet means we'll likely never know if those people are just naive or if they're really in a position to know something I don't, although sadly I suspect the former.

Is there potential in there for the UDA to transform loyalism into a peaceful (preferably non-sectarian - too much?) political movement, or is this leopard incapable of changing its spots?