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September 16, 2005

Loyalists Mount Roadblocks in Belfast AGAIN

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News about Ireland & the Irish

UN 09/16/05 Loyalist Mount Further Roadblocks In Belfast
BT 09/16/05 Reprisal Fears Over Blockades
BT 09/16/05 Hain: Unionists Living In Denial
BT 09/16/05 FBI: We Would Have Fired On Rioters
BT 09/16/05 Call For PSNI To Get Tough On Disruption
BT 09/16/05 Paisley's Warning Of More Violence
BB 09/16/05 Unionists 'To Withdraw From DPP'
BB 09/16/05 Loyalist Protesters Heckle Orde
BB 09/16/05 Hoax Calls Cause More Disruption
BB 09/16/05 Security Guards Patrol Hospitals
NH 09/16/05 Opin: Orange Order Has Lost Its Way
NH 09/16/05 Loyalist Warning
UT 09/16/05 Fresh Fears Over Loyalist March
NL 09/16/05 Former UDA Chief Gray Is Granted Bail
BT 09/16/05 Fury As Ex-UDA Boss Gray Is Allowed Bail
BG 09/16/05 Claims Of Catholic Favor Fuel Rioting
WP 09/16/05 Clinton Inaugurates Global Conference

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http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=9&si=79311

Loyalist Protestors Mount Further Roadblocks In Belfast

13:13 Friday September 16th 2005

Loyalists have begun mounting roadblocks across Belfast
again today as part of an ongoing protest against the
latest developments in the peace process.

The demonstrations are set to cause traffic chaos
throughout lunchtime and further into the afternoon.

Some ATMS in Belfast are also beginning to run out of cash
because security vans are avoiding the city for fear of
being blockaded.

Yesterday, four people were arrested in connection with
similar blockades by loyalist protestors throughout the
city.

The PSNI later vowed to deal with the situation and ensure
that all main roads remained opened.

Unionist politicians have said the protests, as well as a
recent upsurge in loyalist violence, are linked to
perceptions that loyalist culture is being eroded by the
peace process while nationalists are being rewarded.

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661726

Reprisal Fears Over Blockades

Police warned not to remove women or kids

By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

POLICE refused to remove women and child protesters
blocking roads across Belfast yesterday because of fears of
retaliatory loyalist attacks.

Although they moved in to keep some of the city's main
routes clear officers refrained from moving child and women
protesters in light of intelligence information that
loyalist paramilitaries were prepared to attack.

Police chiefs yesterday said they did not want to inflame
the situation.

However, they still came under attack in north Belfast last
night when 150 rioters hurled petrol bombs, bricks and
bottles in the Forthriver Road area. Water cannons were
deployed to bring the mob under control.

Traffic chaos was further aggravated when gangs again
hijacked and torched vehicles.

As several vehicles were set alight in the north and west
of the city, riot police dramatically rescued the driver of
a Tennent's beer lorry and his cargo which rioters were
trying to loot and use as a burning barricade on West
Circular Road.

A convoy of police vehicles escorted the driver and vehicle
to safety.

Police went on the offensive over the illegal protests for
the first time yesterday, following four days of misery for
motorists and public transport users.

Four men were arrested during a protest at the Knock Road,
near PSNI headquarters, just hours after Assistant Chief
Constable Duncan McCausland confirmed an operation had been
put in place to keep open the main arterial routes at
Broadway, the Westlink and the Crumlin Road at the Mater
Hospital.

Mr McCausland said community leaders should exercise their
influence to end the protests.

He added: "We have always said we would be proactive in
dealing with this activity on Belfast's streets.

"Gathering evidence and reporting people for prosecution,
as we have been doing, is a graduated response to dealing
with peaceful but illegal protests, mainly involving women
and children.

"As these protests have not ceased, officers are taking
further action to ensure that main routes, especially those
near major hospitals, will be kept open."

For the third evening, Translink has been forced to cancel
some of its bus services due to "community unrest".

There was still no indication last night as to how long
loyalists were planning to continue their protests.

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661736

Hain: Unionists Living In Denial

Riots and protests continue

By Chris Thornton, Political Correspondent
cthornton@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

UNIONIST politicians have made themselves fellow travellers
"with thuggery and gangsterism" during this week's
explosion of loyalist violence, Secretary of State Peter
Hain said today.

As the unrest threatened to spill into a second week, Mr
Hain gave his blunt assessment of unionism in a Belfast
Telegraph interview - saying many unionists live with a
"sense of denial" about what the peace process has achieved
and need to "get real" about the future.

The rift between unionists and the Government deepened last
night as DUP and UUP members resigned from Belfast's
District Policing Partnerships.

The resigning councillors accused police of "intransigence"
- at the same time that an FBI agent visiting Belfast said
US police would have had "no problem using deadly force"
against the loyalist rioters who attacked the PSNI this
week.

Loyalist protesters again blocked traffic in the city last
night, followed by some rioting in west Belfast.

Loyalist sources have hinted that the campaign could
escalate, with the threat of more resignations and a
possible rally in Belfast next month.

But Naomi Long, an Alliance Party representative on the
Belfast Police Partnership, said unionist support for
policing was "skin deep".

"When push comes to shove, the commitment of unionist
politicians to the defence of police and the rule of law
and order is just tactical and superficial," she said.

In today's interview, Mr Hain said the loyalist violence
was "pre-meditated, pre-planned and you can't do anything
other than condemn it openly".

"I think it's important that we draw a line in the sand on
that," he said.

"I think the vast majority of Protestants and unionists
totally abhor violence, are law-abiding, but there's been
an element of fellow-travelling with what happened over the
weekend, saying 'well, we told you so'.

"There's an element of not reacting to the ferocious
violence against police in a way that the reaction would
have been to equivalent violence from republicans against
police. I just think there's a sense of denial over that as
well.

"You're either with the rule of law or you're not.

"There has been too much fellow-travelling with thuggery
and gangsterism. Which I know has appalled the great
majority in the Orange Order. I know that for a fact."

Mr Hain also said the havoc in loyalist areas will not be
"cost free" - because money will have to come from "other
public investment" to pay for the damage.

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661719

We Would Have Fired On Rioters

FBI agent praises PSNI restraint

By Jonathan McCambridge
jmccambridge@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

AN FBI terrorism expert last night said US police would
have responded with "deadly force" if they had faced the
level of violence directed towards the PSNI by loyalist
rioters.

Speaking exclusively to the Belfast Telegraph, FBI man
David S Corderman said the severity of attacks on police
during several days of rioting this week was "not like
anything" he had seen before.

He is one of a number of terrorism experts who visited
Belfast this week for a secret counter-terrorism training
programme hosted by the PSNI.

The PSNI has faced several accusations of heavy-handed
policing after violence broke out following Saturday's
Whiterock parade.

But Mr Corderman said if there had been similar scenes in
America the policing actions would have been even more
direct.

"If police officers were coming under attack with petrol
bombs and live rounds in the US then they would have no
problem using deadly force," he said.

And there were fresh outbreaks of violence in north Belfast
last night after a mob of 150 people attacked police with
petrol bombs, bottles and bricks.

Relations between loyalists and police were further damaged
when unionists withdrew from the Belfast District Policing
Partnership.

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661732

Call For PSNI To Get Tough On Disruption

By Maureen Coleman
mcoleman@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

CONCERNS were mounting today at the PSNI's alleged inaction
over the ongoing illegal road blocks staged by loyalist
protesters.

Main arterial routes in Belfast and surrounding areas have
been closed at rush-hour each night this week, causing
traffic chaos for commuters.

Yesterday evening, as motorists made their way home, a
number of roads were closed throughout the city, including
Cliftonpark Avenue, Seymour Hill, the upper Malone Road at
Taughmonagh, Broadway, Shankill Road, Lanark Way and Agnes
Street.

A top police chief admitted yesterday that while the
protests were illegal and causing disruption, officers had
refused to remove women and children blocking roads across
Belfast because of fear of retaliatory loyalist attacks.

SDLP MLA and member of the Policing Board, Alex Attwood,
said the community's patience had run out.

"What the community needs now is the tough robust policing
we saw at the weekend," he said.

"The community had a little understanding of why the police
were keeping their distance, but they now want to see
strong decisive policing against those who are mounting
these roadblocks and causing disruption on our streets."

However an angry Alliance MLA said that as he was listening
to Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland's vows to
keep the roads clear, he was stuck in a traffic jam, before
eventually being turned back by police and forced to take
an alternative route.

Seamus Close said that rather than assisting "law-abiding,
democratic people" the police were perceived to be
"acquiescing to thugs flouting the law".

He said: "I support the PSNI but these young officers are
not being allowed to do their jobs."

Yesterday, ACC McCausland promised to "keep the life blood
of the city open".

But, he added: "I have clear indications that if I move
against women and children, paramilitaries or other
organisations in the community may come out against me and
my officers.

"I want to balance that and make a decision in terms of
maintaining law and order and the peace of the community
but I intend to keep the roads open as much as possible."

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661724

Paisley's Warning Of More Violence

Government 'must address unionist fears'

By Deborah McAleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

UNIONISTS last night put the onus on the Government to
control loyalist violence.

DUP leader Ian Paisley warned the Government that unless it
addresses unionist frustrations, loyalist violence will
continue.

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey accused Secretary of State Peter
Hain of not listening to the concerns of the communities
that erupted in violence this week.

Calls were made for the Government to abandon the Parades
Commission as it has "no support" within these communities.

A delegation of DUP and UUP members met with Mr Hain
yesterday to discuss the recent violence that paralysed the
streets of Greater Belfast since the weekend.

Following the meeting, Mr Paisley said: "There will be no
political progress whatsoever until the Government is seen
to treat unionists with equality and respect. The choice
for the Government is very clear. It either follows the
democratic solution that has been presented to it or
continues with the message that terrorism and criminality
pay."

He added: "It is time for the Secretary of State to abandon
the Parades Commission and move to an alternative
structure.

"The Parades Commission was never supported by the unionist
community and there is certainly no confidence in it to
deal impartially with the parading issue."

Calls were made by the UUP for Mr Hain to "get on the
ground" and engage with the communities that "inexcusably
erupted in violence" at the weekend.

Sir Reg Empey said: "Mr Hain should have engaged directly
with these communities at an earlier stage. He must listen
to their concerns and enter into dialogue with opinion
formers at a grass roots level.

"He must understand that the sense of alienation felt by
ordinary unionists is profound.

He added: "The problem underlying the violent scenes
witnessed at the weekend is that over the years people's
experience is that violence works, democracy doesn't.

"The Secretary of State must work with local politicians to
restore credibility in the democratic process."

Both leaders condemned the violence and called for it to be
brought to an end.

******************************************

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/4251370.stm

Unionists 'To Withdraw From DPP'

Unionist members of Belfast District Policing Partnership
have withdrawn in protest at the police handling of recent
violence in loyalist areas.

Rioting has affected parts of Belfast since trouble broke
out at the disputed Whiterock Orange parade on Saturday.

In a statement, the unionists said the partnership with
police had collapsed, particularly in west Belfast.

However, the SDLP accused unionists of "abdicating
responsibility for law and order" by their withdrawal.

DPPs are made up of councillors and residents who work with
the police.

The city councillors and members of the DPP who put their
names to the unionist statement were Robin Newton, Elaine
McMillan and Ruth Patterson, DUP; Ulster Unionists David
Brown and Jim Rodgers; Independent Unionist Frank McCoubrey
and Hugh Smyth, Progressive Unionist Party.

They accused west Belfast PSNI Chief Superintendent David
Boultwood of not engaging with the unionist community.

PSNI meeting

DUP councillor Robin Newton said residents were unhappy
with the decision taken by police at the Whiterock parade.

Mr Newton said they needed to seek police contact "at a
higher level" to rectify the situation.

"This is not an anti-police move this is a move to seek
clarification," he said.

The unionists said they would be seeking a meeting with
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde early next week to
express their concerns.

SDLP deputy lord mayor Pat Convery, who chairs the Belfast
District Policing Partnership, accused unionists of using
it as a "political football".

"It is ironic that these unionist members sat on the DPP
inquiring into the Ardoyne riot, asking about the numbers
of arrests," he said.

"Yet when there is a riot in their own community, they
adopt Provisional language, talking about heavy-handedness
and arrogance."

Mr Convery said the North and West Belfast Parades Forum -
which released an initial statement announcing the
unionists' withdrawal - was a body on which unionists sat
alongside loyalist paramilitaries.

"We cannot have a situation in which DPP members dance to a
paramilitary tune on policing," he said.

Policing Board chairman Professor Sir Desmond Rea said he
had not yet been formally told of the DPP withdrawals.

"DPPs exist in part to monitor police performance - the
most important way to do that is to engage," he said in a
statement.

Meanwhile, two Church of Ireland bishops plan to establish
a process of listening to clergy and lay people in Belfast
following recent violence.

Bishop of Connor Alan Harper said they were "deeply
concerned about the lawlessness and violence".

"We are also deeply concerned to understand better the
issues and frustration that underlay the descent into
chaos," he said.

The bishops said they rejected violence and called upon
people to abide by the law.

Leadership

Alliance Party assembly member Naomi Long, a member of the
south Belfast DPP, said the unionist withdrawal was a
"fruitless and immature display".

Ms Long said that the commitment of unionist politicians to
the defence of the police and to the rule of law and order
was "just tactical, superficial and skin deep".

District policing partnerships were set up across Northern
Ireland under reforms initiated by a commission headed by
former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten and implemented by
the government.

The partnerships are made up of councillors and members of
the local community, who work alongside the Police Service
of Northern Ireland's 29 District Command Units in trying
to meet local community policing needs.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/09/16 12:19:13 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/4248452.stm

Loyalist Protesters Heckle Orde

Loyalists staging a demonstration outside the Belfast
headquarters of the Policing Board on Thursday heckled
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.

The protesters, who were mainly women, were angry at the
way police handled three days of disorder which followed
Saturday's Whiterock parade.

They shouted "shame" at Sir Hugh as he was driven into the
board meeting.

Board chairman Sir Desmond Rea spoke with the group who
told him of allegations of PSNI misconduct.

He said afterwards: "We believe as a board that Northern
Ireland has been efficiently policed - that is not to say
there were not individuals who went beyond what they should
have.

"I said to the protesters if they have complaints against
the police they can go to the ombudsman," he said.

You just need to turn on CNN or BBC World and you become
aware this is a lead item

Sir Desmond Rea

Sir Desmond said that through the street violence Northern
Ireland had again damaged its image in the outside world.

"You just need to turn on CNN or BBC World and you become
aware this is a lead item," he said.

"That is not a good sign for Northern Ireland Plc."

Democratic Unionist Party Justice spokesman and Policing
Board member, Ian Paisley Jnr, said the briefing had held
few surprises.

The police, he said, "appear to have lost, in certain parts
of Belfast, consent to police".

He said the PSNI would have to try to win back "those who
feel alienated from policing".

So far police have made 63 arrests in connection with the
trouble.

Violence began on Saturday after the Parades Commission
refused to change their decision not to allow the Orange
Order's Whiterock parade to pass through a nationalist
section of Springfield Road.

The chief constable has blamed loyalist paramilitaries, the
Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, for
being behind the trouble.

Sir Hugh said 60 of his officers had been hurt over three
nights of rioting.

Police officers and soldiers were shot at and attacked with
petrol bombs, blast bombs and other missiles during the
violence.

Dozens of hijacked vehicles were also set on fire at a
number of locations across Northern Ireland.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/09/15 20:01:10 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/4252516.stm

Hoax Calls Cause More Disruption

After several days of loyalist protests and rioting, bogus
callers are causing further disruption to businesses in
Belfast.

A number of shops and offices in the city have received
calls purporting to be from the police advising them to
close early.

Schools in the city have also been contacted by hoax
callers.

Translink said the calls incorrectly claimed that Friday's
school bus services had been cancelled.

The company has decided to either suspend or divert several
of their bus services because of the nightly violence which
started after Saturday's Orange Order Whiterock parade in
west Belfast.

On Thursday night, police used water cannon on rioters in
the Forthriver estate after officers came under attack.

Traffic

Rush-hour traffic leaving the city has been disrupted since
Monday by loyalist protesters angry at the police's
response to disturbances which followed the diverted march.

On Thursday, police cleared many protests off main roads
and arrested four people, but were told they faced
paramilitary attack if they tried to move women and
children protesters.

However, they said they intended to step up their
operations to deal with the protests.

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said all road
protests were illegal and that community leaders should
exercise their influence to bring them to an end.

He said that the protests, mostly featuring women and
children had been peaceful, but that they were causing
disruption.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/09/16 12:16:30 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/4251838.stm

Security Guards Patrol Hospitals

Security guards have been put on duty at hospitals in Omagh
and Enniskillen following an increasing number of attacks
on doctors and nurses.

The staff will work from 2200 BST until 0600 primarily in
the accident and emergency departments at the Tyrone County
hospital and the Erne hospital.

Rod Halls, acting chief executive of the Sperrin Lakeland
Trust, said the move was "regrettable but necessary".

The trust said it regarded the measure as temporary.

Unison representative Olive Wylie said the security
presence would help to reassure hospital staff.

"Healthcare staff are the backbone of the 24-hour, seven
day a week, health service provided to our local
community," she said.

"As such, they have every right to be able to work in a
safe environment."

SDLP assembly member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Tommy
Gallagher said he was disappointed that such a step was
needed.

"Some people refuse to consider the difficult circumstances
of others and just feel they can do whatever they like," he
said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/09/16 09:30:49 GMT
© BBC MMV

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http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2005/sep15_Order_has_lost_its_way__Editorial.php

Orange Order Has Lost Its Way

(Editorial, Irish News)

Somewhere between the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688-89 and
the mayhem in Belfast last weekend, the rallying cry of
'civil and religious liberty' got lost in translation.

The notion that every individual should enjoy freedom of
religion, represented on its banners as the open Bible,
encapsulated the appeal of Orangeism down the centuries to
members of the Protestant minority in Ireland.

Many of other religions and none have no difficulty with
this principle – though they would greatly prefer it to be
more consistently applied.

After all, from within the Catholic minority in the north
the language of 'civil rights' emerged in the 1960s to
challenge religious domination.

Today's world is one of so-called 'a la carte' Catholicism
– where some make their own decisions on questions of
personal morality – rather than follow a supposedly
overweening church.

It is also a multi-cultural environment in which no one
religious group should be given preferential treatment.

In this context, the Orange Order appears starkly guilty of
a gross abdication of responsibility.

For the other side of the coin of 'civil and religious
liberty' for every individual is the taking of individual
responsibility for one's actions – an idea at the heart of
the belief systems of main Protestant denominations.

Yet at yesterday's (Wednesday) Orange Order media
conference in Belfast, everyone else was scapegoated for
the horrifying events of the weekend.

The grand master, Robert Saulters, claimed that "ordinary,
decent and reasonable men" had been "goaded into behaving
out of character by the authorities and their insistence on
appeasing and rewarding nationalists at the expense of
loyalists".

Well, let us be clear. The civil rights movement rightly
secured an historic levelling up of the socio-economic
position of Catholics in Northern Ireland.

There are still gaps, and recent research – which the
Department for Social Development sat upon – belies the
myth that 'loyalist communities' are more disadvantaged.

Indeed, the saddest feature of this sterile debate is that,
while narrowly sectarian solidarities prevail, the gulf in
income and wealth between different social classes remains
unchallenged.

Nor is it true to say that loyalists have been done down by
the government, set on advantaging nationalists.

Indeed, the vast majority of Protestants have been stunned
by the willingness of government to indulge their loyalist
co-religionists, whom they see as thugs and corner-boys.

Here again many can share common cause: there is no
sectarian monopoly on concern about the willingness of 10
Downing Street to make private deals with paramilitaries of
very doubtful morality.

Most Protestants no longer recognise in themselves the
claims made by the Orange Order supposedly on their behalf.

The Order wants them to walk, not talk.

In reality, they are already walking away from it.

September 16, 2005

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http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/Irelandclick/arts2005/sep15_Loyalist_warning.php

Loyalist Warning

(Joe Nawaz, Irelandclick.com)

A new generation of violent, radical loyalists is being
bred thanks to British Government policy towards the
Protestant community, according to a local loyalist leader.

Speaking to South Belfast News after a weekend orgy of
loyalist violence throughout the city, Colin Halliday,
spokesperson for the UDA-linked Ulster Political Research
Group (UPRG) also warned that the rumoured government
review of the status of the UDA and UVF ceasefires could
have "grave consequences" for peace in the North of
Ireland.

"Our young people are very angry and they're not listening
to us any more," he said. "They see how the IRA have
benefited from years of violence and are starting to think
that that is the way forward. There is a serious danger
that we are looking at a situation where our youngsters
will become a new generation full of bigotry and hatred."

The former loyalist prisoner was also adamant that the UDA
ceasefire was still intact and warned: "It would be a
terrible mistake for [NI Secretary of State] Peter Hain not
to recognise that. It would set us back years and the
consequences could be terrible."

The Northern Ireland Office's "disdainful" treatment of the
Protestant community will unleash a new generation of
violent, radical paramilitaries, a senior South Belfast
loyalist has warned.

Speaking exclusively to the South Belfast News in the
aftermath of three days of intense loyalist violence, Colin
Halliday, of the UDA linked Ulster Political Research Group
(UPRG), warned loyalists were reaching "breaking point" .

"We are looking at a situation where our youngsters will
become a new generation full of bigotry and hatred," he
said.

"You only have to look at what happened across the city on
Saturday and Sunday to see which direction it is going.

"Luckily in South Belfast we managed to keep a slightly
better lid on it than in other parts, but the anger and
tension is still there. The young people just aren't
listening any more."

Mr Halliday added that young loyalists were increasingly
seeing violence as the only way forward.

"They look at the IRA and how much that they achieved
through violence and then look at their own community.

"This weekend's trouble has been months in the making – as
a community we are feeling that we have been at best
ignored and at worst victimised by the British Government.

"You only have to look at the heavy handed treatment of the
security forces against our people. The pendulum has swung
and it is the loyalist community who are suffering. Look at
the exaggerated reaction to the IRA and their wee bit of
paper last month, and then see how the NIO won't even allow
a small march in Whiterock – that is not even handed,"
added the former prisoner.

Mr Halliday also warned than the rumoured negative ruling
on the state of the UDA and UVF ceasefires could have "very
worrying consequences".

"I can categorically say that the UDA ceasefire is still
intact and will remain so.

"It would be a terrible mistake for [NI Secretary of State]
Peter Hain not to recognise that. It would set us back
years and the consequences could be terrible.

"I don't know who's advising Hain but he needs to talk to
the people here on the ground to gauge just what the
feeling among ordinary Protestants is.

"We've been saying for a long time now that the British
Government needs to engage in talks immediately with the
UDA and others to understand the frustration of our
community.

"Nobody wants violence like that we have seen recently, but
the onus is on Mr Hain to address that and begin to listen
to us so that we can work together to prevent a new
generation of terrorism," added Mr Halliday.

September 16, 2005

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http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=65025&pt=n

Fresh Fears Over Loyalist March

Organisers of a massive new loyalist rally could unleash a
fresh wave of violence on the streets of Belfast, outraged
nationalists claimed today.

By:Press Association

Representatives of the Love Ulster campaign, set up to
oppose a feared slide towards a United Ireland, are
planning a huge demonstration in the city next month.

Victims` groups, Orangemen and loyalist bands are all set
to take part in the October 29 march.

Organisers insisted the gathering to vent unionist
frustration at the peace process will be peaceful and
marshalled.

But others, horrified by a week of ferocious rioting in
Belfast after an Orange Order parade was re-routed on
Saturday, were stunned by the plans.

Alban Magennis, a nationalist SDLP Assembly member for
north Belfast, warned that it could lead to new trouble.

He said: "It`s the height of irresponsibility to bring
large crowds on to the streets of Belfast in the present
circumstances.

"It`s dangerous and can only lead to further community
tensions in the build-up to this particular march.

"Police resources are bound to be put under further strain
and this will create a climate of fear."

The campaign has already sent out 200,000 copies of a free
newspaper declaring "Ulster in Crisis" across Northern
Ireland, with loyalist paramilitaries openly involved in
the deliveries.

Angered by a military scale-back following the IRA`s
declaration that its armed campaign is over, its new plan
is to march from the Shankill Road scene of a deadly Provo
bomb attack in October 1993.

A spokesman told the Belfast News Letter: "We know there
will be an attempt to demonise us and condemn the campaign
and the rally.

"But this will be a peaceful demonstration of the deep
feelings of Protestant, unionist and loyalist people at
this time. They have simply had enough."

Tensions in the city are still high as police used water
canons to drive back a mob attacking security lines with
petrol bombs, bricks and bottles during fresh rioting in
north Belfast last night.

And according to Mr Magennis the march can achieve nothing
worthwhile.

He added: "It`s pure nihilism. It`s an aimless protest for
protest`s sake.

"There`s no political objective on the horizon, and no
political objective will be achieved."

******************************************

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/story/22670

Former UDA Chief Gray Is Granted Bail

Friday 16th September 2005

DEPOSED loyalist paramilitary boss Jim Gray was yesterday
released from jail on £15,000 bail.

The former Ulster Defence Association chief, who is accused
of money laundering, has been ordered not to leave Northern
Ireland and given a tight curfew.

Gray, a flamboyant 47-year-old nicknamed Doris Day because
of his bleached blond hair and heavy tan, must also steer
clear of a top estate agent and a girlfriend also charged
by detectives probing the alleged cash racket.

Granting bail at the Northern Ireland High Court, Mr
Justice Coghlin instructed him to report to police five
times a week.

Gray, of Knockwood Park, Belfast, was arrested near
Banbridge, Co Down, in April along with his partner Sharon
Moss.

Police allegedly found a bank draft for 10,000 euros and
nearly £3,000 in cash in his car, which they believe was
headed for the Irish border.

Detectives examining his financial affairs have travelled
to five-star hotels in Spain, the Canary Islands, London
and Dublin where they suspect the former UDA commander has
stayed.

Days before he was detained by police, Gray was ousted from
his position as socalled brigadier of the UDA's east
Belfast unit.

He was charged with possessing and concealing criminal
property and money laundering.

Police swooped on Gray, who denies the offences, after
arresting Philip Johnston, one of the city's leading estate
agents.

Johnston, 39, of Kings Road, Belfast, denies four charges
of money laundering, while Ms Moss has also pleaded not
guilty to alleged laundering offences.

Gray was refused bail in May, but yesterday the judge
agreed on the grounds that he personally provide a £5,000
guarantee.

Two further sureties of £5,000 each were requested, as well
as the regular reports to a named police station.

Gray was also warned against making any contact with either
of his co-accused without police consent.

With his passport seized, he cannot leave Northern Ireland,
and he was ordered to observe a 9pm to 8am house curfew.

Gray must be at home any time police call at his home
between those hours.

******************************************

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=661721

Fury As Ex-UDA Boss Gray Is Allowed Bail

By Deborah McAlleese
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
16 September 2005

A HIGH Court decision to release former UDA chief Jim Gray
on bail was met with outrage last night.

There was anger that Gray, who is charged with money
laundering and possession of the proceeds of crime, has
been granted bail at a time of civil unrest within loyalist
communities.

Gray was released on £15,000 bail - his own bail of £5,000
and two sureties of £5,000 - after a judge was told it
could take up to two months before a forensic accountant
produces a full report into his financial dealings.

SDLP MLA Alex Attwood said the court's decision was
"sending out the wrong message at the wrong time".

Forty-seven-year-old Gray, formerly of Convention Court in
Belfast, was ordered by Mr Justice Coghlin not to leave
Northern Ireland and given a tight curfew. Police will hold
on to his passport.

He was also ordered not to have any contact with two co-
accused - his girlfriend Sharon Moss and former estate
agent Philip Johnston - and to report to police five times
a week.

Gray, who has been directed to reside at an address in the
east of the city, was arrested on April 7 along with Ms
Moss, on the A1 dual carriageway between Banbridge and
Loughbrickland.

He had a bankers draft for €10,000 euro, €270 euro in cash
and £2,720 with him.

A Crown lawyer told the court that Gray claimed he had
received the money after selling two bars in Belfast - The
Bunch of Grapes and Avenue One.

However, he pointed out that after Gray's bank accounts
were checked it was found his outgoings exceeded his
alleged income of £300 per week.

Police also discovered that he had property in Belfast and
Spain.

A defence lawyer said Gray had received whatever money he
had legitimately and had allowed officers full access to
his financial documents.

Gray had almost £50,000 in bank accounts in the province
when arrested.

The Crown warned that his release could spark violence as
he is under paramilitary threat and that he could obtain a
false passport.

Questioning Gray's release Mr Attwood said: "While citizens
have the right to seek their liberty there will be large
numbers of people who will not understand the decision of
the courts. The vast majority of people say this makes no
sense. Serious questions must be asked."

******************************************

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/claims_of_catholic_favor_fuel_protestant_rioting_in_belfast/

Claims Of Catholic Favor Fuel Protestant Rioting In Belfast

By Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post September 16, 2005

BELFAST -- For three nights Protestant rioters trashed
David Hamilton's neighborhood in east Belfast, tossing
firebombs and rocks, hijacking and burning cars, and
ripping down streetlights in the city's worst violence in
years.

Looking at the shattered battlefield of his street Tuesday,
Hamilton, 37, also a Protestant, said he would have been
out there, too, if he were a little younger and didn't have
four children. ''The Protestant people are persecuted and
want to stick up for themselves, but nobody seems to be
listening," he said. ''The only way to be heard is the way
the Catholics do it -- with violence."

According to a variety of Protestants interviewed here, the
riots over the previous few days were an _expression of rage
and frustration among members of the Protestant working
class, who feel they are being left behind economically and
politically in the aftermath of the three-decade sectarian
and political conflict known as ''the Troubles."

When the Irish Republican Army this summer declared an end
to its armed struggle, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain
hailed the historic step. His government immediately began
withdrawing troops and dismantling military posts in the
province.

But furious Protestants said they were being betrayed.
Their rage was compounded by the release of a convicted IRA
bomber, Sean Kelly, the night before the IRA declaration in
July. Protestants saw it as a reward from Blair for
disarmament.

Protestants interviewed here said the peace process and the
landmark 1998 Good Friday power-sharing accords have
disproportionately benefited Catholics.

Since the accords, fading political violence and a strong
British economy have brought improvements to once-gray
Belfast, reflected in a beautifully redeveloped waterfront
and construction cranes towering over new downtown offices
and shops. But Protestant leaders say unemployment is still
70 percent in some Protestant areas, housing conditions
have not improved, and educational achievement among the
poor remains abysmal. They contend that poor Catholics have
fared better.

''They threatened the government; they blew up Parliament;
they blew up bombs in London," said Florence Rae, 51,
carrying groceries past the burned-out remains of two cars
near her house on the Albertbridge Road. ''It's not the
Protestant people who are blowing up England. But Tony
Blair doesn't want to know about the Protestant people, and
he is giving the IRA everything it wants."

Those claims are denied by British officials, as well as by
Northern Irish Catholic leaders who say discrimination and
unemployment are still serious problems in their
communities.

Analysts in Belfast say that conditions are as bad or worse
in Catholic areas, and that Protestant complaints of
mistreatment by the government are unfounded.

''Quite clearly there are issues, but the problem comes
when you say, 'It's because I'm a Protestant,' " said
University of Ulster senior lecturer Peter Shirlow, a
Protestant who said he grew up in a working-class
neighborhood. He said many Protestant job losses were the
result of heavy industry moving out of Belfast -- global
economics rather than government discrimination. He also
said there is a belief in working-class Protestant areas
that higher education was not important because ''real men
work in hard jobs."

''I've been a lecturer here for 14 years, and in that time
I've had one student from the Shankill Road," Shirlow said,
referring to the major Protestant thoroughfare in west
Belfast, where rioting has taken place this week. At least
60 police officers and 10 civilians were injured.

The struggle in Northern Ireland has divided the largely
Catholic republican movement, which wants the province
united with the Republic of Ireland and is symbolized by
the IRA, against Protestant loyalists, who want it to
remain part of Britain.

While world attention usually focuses on the IRA, the
province also has two main loyalist militias: the Ulster
Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defense Association. Both
remain powerful presences on the streets; in the past two
months, four men have been killed in violence among
loyalist paramilitary groups.

Protestant leaders affiliated with those groups said many
Protestants felt ignored and disrespected by the
government.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

******************************************

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050915-112917-5636r.htm

Clinton Inaugurates Global Conference

September 16, 2005

From combined dispatches

NEW YORK -- Former President Bill Clinton yesterday
convened his own gathering of world leaders in a Manhattan
hotel, vying for attention with the United Nations summit
across town.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.N. Secretary-
General Kofi Annan, King Abdullah II of Jordan, left-wing
financier George Soros and Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice were among those in attendance at the first session of
the Clinton Global Initiative.

During the opening session, Mr. Clinton suggested the
creation of an insurance program against terror attacks,
saying such a program would promote private investment in
places desperate for economic development but beleaguered
by conflict, like the Gaza Strip.

"I would just like to ask that you consider setting up
some sort of insurance structure," Mr. Clinton said. "Then
I think we'd have a lot more success in getting venture
capital in there."

In addition to speeches and panels on topics such as
global warming and Middle East peace, the conference
featured a cocktail reception last night at the Museum of
Modern Art. Admission was expensive, with some attendees
paying $15,000; the fee was waived for others.

Today, a panel will examine "Islam and the West," with
participants including Elizabeth Cheney, principal deputy
assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and
daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney. An afternoon
session will discuss the role of religion in political
conflicts, featuring participants such as Gerry Adams,
president of Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein party, and former
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.

Also among the participants in the conference are
Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Viktor
Yushchenko of Ukraine, World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz,
Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, Queen Rania of Jordan and
former Vice President Al Gore.

The conference is bankrolled by "major underwriter" Tom
Golisano, a Rochester, N.Y., billionaire. Mr. Golisano, a
prominent advocate of legalizing marijuana for medicinal
use, ran unsuccessfully three times for governor of New
York on the Independence Party ticket.

Other "inaugural partners" of the Clinton Global
Initiative include the Rockefeller Foundation, Goldman
Sachs, the Starbucks coffee chain, and such
computer/Internet industry giants as Microsoft Corp.,
Hewlett-Packard Development Co. LP, Yahoo and Google.

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