Rioting in Belfast shatters peace

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 21. The all-too-fragile peace in Northern Ireland was rudely shaken as violence erupted in north Belfast on Tuesday and continued sporadically until late on Wednesday.

While the rioting subsided, tension persisted amid fears of more trouble in the run-up to the annual Drumcree Orange parade which invariably heightens the sectarian divide in the region as Protestants insist on marching through Catholic neighbourhood.

Army was patrolling the streets today while community leaders appealed for calm amid a deepening sense of crisis. The fate of the Good Friday Agreement hung in the balance as a breakthrough on arms decommissioning - the main stumbling block to peace - seemed unlikely. The IRA, in a statement, made it clear that it would not succumb to pressure, a reference to the Ulster Unionist Party chief, Mr. David Trimble's threat to resign as the head of the Northern Ireland ruling coalition if there is no progress on decommissioning by July 1.

North Belfast is a chronic flashpoint with Protestants and Catholics separated by what is ironically known as a ``peace line'', in effect a symbol of mistrust and hate that divide the two communities. The trouble apparently began outside a Catholic school when parents collecting their children were attacked with stones, allegedly by Protestant activists. The retaliation was swift and soon the confrontation turned into a full-scale riot with mobs from both sides resorting to arson and stoning.

Hundreds of youths fought pitched battles with security forces who used plastic bullets to beat the attack. In what was described as the worst violence in a long time, mobs went on a rampage, burning vehicles, attacking homes and shops, and hurling petrol bombs and missiles at policemen. Several police officers were injured. A schoolbus carrying children was attacked but fortunately no harm came to them.

A senior officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), which is viewed with deep distrust by Catholics, described the incident as ``very serious'' with security forces coming under sustained attack. The involvement of various militant outfits, belonging to both sides, was not ruled out, prompting speculation that this could be an attempt to sabotage the British and Irish Governments' efforts to revive the peace process.

The violence, which came a day after peace talks at Downing Street collapsed amid angry recrimination, was widely condemned even as two sides traded charges and blamed each other. The Security Minister of Northern Ireland, Ms Jane Kennedy, said the trouble had ``nothing to do with grievances - real or imagined''. It was plain lumpenism - ``a mob at its most primitive''. Ms. Ann Tanney, principal of the Catholic school where the trouble started, called for restraint saying it was important that children were not brought up in an atmosphere of ``hatred and fear''.

A Sinn Fein leader, Mr. Gerry Kelly, accused Protestant loyalists of heightening tension in the area ahead of next month's Orange march. One newspaper said the scale of the clashes was ``greater than the familiar marching season disturbances which annually afflict the district''.

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