BREAKING NEWS
11:57am UK, Wednesday June 22, 2011
UVF Paramilitaries Blamed For Belfast Riots
Police have blamed the Ulster Volunteer Force for the serious rioting that has rocked Belfast.
Petrol bombs, bottles and bricks have been thrown at officers over the past two days in the worst violence the city has seen for 10 years.
Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay said the loyalist paramilitary group started the trouble and there was no sense of it trying to bring it to an end.
Mr Finlay said there had been "serious, sustained violence" and insisted: "Their hands are upon this, whether by direction, by omission or commission."
He added: "Over two nights we have seen three people shot and injured, communities wrecked, houses and businesses damaged, lives put at serious risk.
"This has got to stop, it is a time for cool heads, for people to take a step back."
Petrol bombs are thrown towards the Short Strand area of the city
Two men were shot in the leg during fighting in the east of the city on Monday night. A third fractured his skull when he was hit by a concrete block.
Even more youths descended on the streets for a second night of mayhem on Tuesday.
A gunman appeared to be deliberately targeting the media and shot a press photographer in the leg.
The photographer was working for The Press Association and had been documenting the violence.
He was wounded in the leg and taken to Royal Victoria Hospital, where he was said to be in a stable condition.
Three shots in total were fired during the disturbances around the Short Strand area, a Catholic enclave in eastern Belfast.
A petrol bomb lands close to a police officer
Masked youths pelted each other with stones, fireworks, bricks and bottles and even petrol bombs.
Police used water cannon and fired more than 60 baton rounds as they tried to restore order.
A 20-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault on police following the violence and is being held in custody.
The sudden upsurge in violence has been blamed on simmering sectarian tensions in the city.
But others have put it down to rivalries inside the UVF over curbs to contentious parades and police investigations into crimes during the Troubles.
David Blevins, Ireland correspondent
The UVF is one of the largest loyalist groups and was blamed for a murder last year despite having observed a ceasefire and decommissioning its weapons.
A paramilitary watchdog found its leadership had sanctioned the "public execution" of loyalist Bobby Moffett, who was shot dead in front of shoppers.
UVF murals have recently appeared in east Belfast showing masked, armed men in an apparent bid by the group to make its mark.
The location of the latest riots is a notorious flashpoint. Short Strand is a small Catholic community in the predominantly Protestant east of the city.
Hundreds of masked youths took to the streets
The violence has been blamed on the UVF paramilitary group
Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have both condemned the riots.
Mr Robinson said: "At this time when many are working hard to build a better and brighter future for all in Northern Ireland, it is disappointing and deeply concerning to see this level of violence return to our streets."
Mr McGuinness added: "A small minority of individuals are clearly determined to destabilise our communities.
"They will not be allowed to drag us back to the past. I call on all those involved to take a step back and to remain calm."
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