Rioting Breaks Out in North Belfast

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 24, 2002

Rioting Breaks Out in North Belfast

Sectarian rioting broke out in an area of north Belfast on Sunday evening with more than 200 people gathering on the streets.

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Sectarian rioting broke out in an area of north Belfast on Sunday evening with more than 200 people gathering on the streets.

Police and army units were called to the North Queen Street area amid reports that a pipe bomb had been thrown at Catholic homes on Sunday evening, the BBC reported.

A police spokeswoman said investigations showed the suspected bomb was actually a large firework.

But stones and other missiles rained down as security forces battled to keep Protestants and Catholics apart.

A vehicle was set alight at Spamount Street in the Catholic North Lodge area as the trouble intensified.

Three police officers were injured in the violence before orderwas restored, the spokeswoman said.

Local Sinn Fein councilor Gerard Brophy accused police of beingheavy-handed with nationalist residents.

He said: "I'm in the middle of a full scale riot after loyalists came in and attacked these homes.

Tensions were said to have been running high in the area all weekend following sporadic outbreaks of violence as a contentious loyalist band parade passed through the area.

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