Pressure on IRA to disarm as riots threaten process

BEHIND the scenes pressure was mounting on the IRA to finally deliver on decommissioning last night as loyalist rioters again threatened to plunge the North into chaos.

US special envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss said he was hopeful of an historic republican move to put weapons beyond use "within weeks".

He was speaking after a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern which was overshadowed by the eruption of loyalist violence and the fear it could derail the fragile peace process.

The scale of the rioting, which saw police and British troops come under sustained gunfire and blast bomb attack, looks set to push Northern Secretary Peter Hain to declare UVF and UDA ceasefires a sham within the next 48 hours.

The paramilitary groups are believed to have deployed their gunmen amid a 700-strong mob of Belfast rioters on Sunday to unleash more than 50 rounds on police and soldiers as petrol bombs rained down on security lines.

The violence flared after an Orange Order march was rerouted from a Catholic area, but security sources believe the mayhem was a show of strength by loyalist paramilitaries embroiled in a deadly turf war.

Belfast was tense again last night as mobs blocked roundabouts bringing chaos to the M1 and a crowd of 60 women and children shut down the main Lisburn to Dunmurry Road in Co Antrim.

Mr Ahern said he was "deeply concerned" about the violence and called on the IRA to carry out its decommissioning pledge, a call echoed by Mr Reiss.

The US envoy also bitterly attacked the failure of Unionist leaders to stem the rioting and said loyalist politicians should be barred from serving in government in the North if they could not uphold the rule of law.

"No political party and no responsible leadership deserves to serve in government unless it wholly and unconditionally supports the police and calls on its constituents to do the same," he said.

DUP leader Ian Paisley denied prompting the riots by saying the parade rerouting "could be the spark which kindles a fire there would be no putting out".

Mr Hain challenged unionists to decide if they wanted to become known as police killers.

"Attempted murder cannot in any way be justified. There can be no ambiguity or excuse for breaking the law," he said.