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N Ireland Protestants pull out of police talks. 17/09/2005. ABC News Online

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Last Update: Saturday, September 17, 2005. 9:06am (AEST)

N Ireland Protestants pull out of police talks

Pro-British Protestants have pulled out of forums meant to forge good relations between Belfast communities and police in a move that could prolong unrest in Northern Ireland after a week of violence.

Belfast saw some of the worst rioting in years last weekend, with mobs throwing petrol bombs, hijacking and burning cars and firing at police after a Protestant march was re-routed away from a Catholic area of the city.

Violence erupted again on Sunday and continued sporadically throughout the week.

"This is not an anti-police move. This is a move to seek clarification and full engagement with the district commander," Robin Newton said, a local Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) representative said.

Ms Newton is one of several Protestant politicians who have pulled out of the Belfast District Policing Partnership.

Opposition politicians have criticised the move, saying the unionists, so-called because they support Northern Ireland's union with Britain, appeared to be siding with militants who stoked the riots rather than the police.

"Clearly the Ulster Unionist Party and DUP prefer to work with gunmen than the police," the moderate Catholic SDLP party said.

"They prefer to work with people who shoot at the police than with the men and women whose job it is to enforce the law."

Leading unionists have been widely criticised for blaming the street violence on the authorities and not doing more to defuse the situation.

A leading police officer says he is disappointed that some have opted out of bodies aimed at giving local people a say in policing.

"Those who have influence in local communities should step forward and use that influence to help bring the current public disorder to an end," Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said.

"There is some evidence of others working hard to help end it, however all we are hearing from some quarters is abdication of responsibility and accusations of blame. This is unhelpful and inaccurate."

Tension in the province's majority Protestant community has been mounting over concerns London is pandering to Irish republican guerrillas by scaling back its security presence before the militants have disarmed.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) says in July it will give up the weapons that sustained its campaign against British rule.

In response, Britain outlined plans to cut its troops and began pulling down the watchtowers symbolising its military presence.

Hopes were high the IRA would act swiftly to destroy its arsenal, but seven weeks after the group's formal end to armed struggle it has yet to show any sign of disarming.

- Reuters



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