DATE=7/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NORTHERN IRELAND (L)
NUMBER=2-264139
BYLINE=LOURDES NAVARRO
DATELINE=LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An uneasy calm has descended on Northern
Ireland after a fourth-night of Protestant
demonstrations turned violent. Lourdes Navarro
reports the protests are aimed at forcing authorities
to allow a parade by the Orange Order - Northern
Ireland's once dominant Protestant brotherhood -
through a mainly Catholic neighborhood.
TEXT: British troops were on the firing line in
Belfast when a crowd of young people began throwing
rocks, fireworks, and gasoline bombs. Masked rioters
tossed gasoline bombs at armored cars and hijacked
vehicles after thousands of hard-line Protestants
blocked more than a dozen roads at evening rush hour.
The violence follows a ban on an Orange Order parade
through a largely Catholic neighborhood in Portadown,
an overwhelmingly Protestant town. Leaders of the
Orange Order insist they are not responsible for the
violence.
The most senior member of the Protestant Orange Order,
Robert Saulters, is calling for an end to the riots
and more peaceful protests.
The British army deployed about 100 soldiers from the
Royal Marines and Royal Green Jackets regiments into
north Belfast to support police units there.
British army headquarters reported that security
forces had contained 61-riots in the previous 24-
hours.
An army communique said that represented more protests
than had happened in Northern Ireland throughout all
of 1999. (SIGNED)
NEB/LN/GE/RAE
06-Jul-2000 11:15 AM EDT (06-Jul-2000 1515 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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