N Irish cops quell sectarian riots

2001-06-26 10:15

Belfast, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland police quickly stamped out a fresh outbreak of sectarian rioting in the British province's capital Belfast overnight, police said on Tuesday.

Police said one man was injured in a heavy bout of stone and bottle throwing in a north Belfast area where Protestant and Roman Catholic communities live close to each other.

The latest sectarian violence erupted just days before Northern Ireland's fragile peace process faces a fresh crisis over a long-running dispute on guerrilla disarmament between politicians from the Protestant majority and Catholic minority.

Last week, dozens of policemen were injured in two nights of rioting by Protestants and Catholics in north Belfast in which gun shots were fired and petrol bombs were thrown at police.

Police said Monday's night violence was brought under control following the quick deployment of officers.

"Around 400 people were involved in the disturbances but those involved have now moved back into their own areas," said a police spokeswoman.

British officials said on Monday that Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Republic Prime Minister Bertie Ahern would discuss within 24 hours potential next steps in the faltering peace process.

A spokesman for Blair said no one had illusions about the difficulties. "There have been difficulties before and we have overcome them. The prime minister is determined to make progress," he said.

The goal is a formula aimed at breaking deadlocks over guerrilla disarmament, cuts in Britain's army presence and future policing, but time is running short.

David Trimble, leader of Northern Ireland's largest Protestant party, has threatened to resign as head of the province's power-sharing government on July 1 unless the Irish Republican Army starts scrapping its arms.

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid told reporters on Monday that all was not lost. "There is a lot going on," he said.

If Trimble resigns, it could bring the power-sharing executive to a halt, forcing Britain to mothball the home-rule government, as it did last year after Trimble made a similar threat on the arms issue.

The IRA, which fought a guerrilla war for decades against British rule in Northern Ireland, has twice allowed international monitors to inspect sealed arms bunkers to prove its weapons are not in use. But its opponents say this is not enough.

Mainstream guerrilla groups such as the IRA are operating cease-fires while politicians from both sides of the sectarian divide try to seal a lasting peace based on the 1998 landmark Good Friday agreement.

- Reuters