Ulster continues to be tense

BELFAST, JULY 10. Protestant hardliners hurled stones at police and set hijacked vehicles ablaze in Northern Ireland overnight in new protests against a ban on a march through a Roman Catholic area, witnesses said today.

It was the eighth consecutive night of violence in the British province. More protests were expected after a militant group from the Protestant Orange Order urged people to bring the province to a standstill for four hours today.

Extra troops were rushed into the sectarian flashpoint of Drumcree to deal with the latest violence, and there were outbreaks of rioting in the Northern Ireland capital Belfast. ``There's certainly a lot more trouble than last night,'' a police source said.

The violence at Drumcree flared just hours after the Orange Order staged the most contentious parade of the annual Protestant `marching season' in the Hamlet yesterday.

Troops and the police staged a huge show of strength to enforce a ban barring the thousands of Orange Order members and supporters from marching in the Garvaghy road Catholic enclave.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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