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Arrests Ignite Riots in Northern Ireland

By the Associated Press

Posted Mar 14, 2009 7:29 PM CDT

(AP) – Irish nationalist gangs hurled gasoline bombs at police today after three alleged IRA dissidents were arrested on suspicion of killing two British soldiers, the AP reports. Police operating in armored cars and flame-retardant suits said none of their officers was injured during the rising mob violence in the Irish Catholic end of Lurgan, near Belfast. Rioters also blocked the main Belfast-to-Dublin railway line.

Later, police said they arrested a 37-year-old man and 30-year-old woman and seized a gun and ammunition in a neighboring town. The unrest came in direct response to today's arrest of Colin Duffy, 41, the best-known Irish republican in Lurgan. Police long considered him the IRA godfather there and twice charged him with murders in the run-up to the IRA's 1997 cease-fire—which breakaway factions are now trying to destroy.

A masked youth throws a petrol bomb at PSNI officers close to were a leading Irish Republican was arrestedtoday in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.
A masked youth throws a petrol bomb at PSNI officers close to were a leading Irish Republican was arrestedtoday in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Youths, some of them masked, stand behind a makeshift barricade in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March 14, 2009.
Youths, some of them masked, stand behind a makeshift barricade in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Hooded youths men prepare to throw petrol bombs at PSNI officers in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.
Hooded youths men prepare to throw petrol bombs at PSNI officers in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
A masked youth prepares to throw a petrol bomb at PSNI officers in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.
A masked youth prepares to throw a petrol bomb at PSNI officers in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, Saturday, March, 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
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As rioters rekindled memories of violence in Northern Ireland, police officers laid one of their own to rest.   (msnbc)

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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
riffran
Mar 15, 2009 1:32 AM CDT
"can't we just settle this over a pint?".......if only it was that easy

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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