NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Northern Ireland today asked Protestant leaders to call off protests demanding the right to march through a Catholic neighborhood. There have been three straight nights of riots in Belfast. Juliet Bremner of International Television News reports.</s>JULIET BREMNER, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): These were the acts of wanton destruction and violence that Northern Ireland hoped it had consigned to the past. In Belfast, vehicles were hijacked and roads blocked for third night running as police, one again, came under attack from gangs of loyalist protesters. Missiles and explosives were hurled at the IOC as anger spread amongst the loyalist community. This officer dives out of the way of a petrol bomb. In other parts of the city, police were shot at and officers returned fire. Mobs of youths roamed the streets and there were reports that some Catholic families were intimated in their own homes. The escalating tension brought calls from both nationalist and Unionist politicians for an end to the trouble.</s>BREMNER: But at Drumcree, there was no suggestion that Orangemen and their supporters were about to abandon their protest. Their attacks were met with bursts from water cannon, the first time they've been used in Northern Ireland for more than 30 years. During a night of repeated clashes, nine police officers were injured. There are still four days to go into the main Drumcree march on Sunday, prompting real fears that the trouble will spiral out of control. Loyalist paramilitary groups are being blamed for orchestrating the disturbances, but they've attracted widespread support amongst the Unionist community. This morning, the evidence of the deteriorating situation was being cleared away from the streets of Belfast. Few think it will be enough to persuade those behind the confrontation to call off their action. Juliet Bremner, ITN.
Angry Protestants Clash With Police in Northern Ireland