Riot marks N.Irish marching day

Security will be high for the July 12 marches

PORTADOWN, Northern Ireland -- Rioters have clashed with police in Northern Ireland at the start of the annual July 12 Protestant marches.

Petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at the security forces who responded with water cannon and plastic bullets to disperse the crowds in Portadown, the Royal Ulster Constabulary said.

The violence flared in the Edgarstown area shortly after 1 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Thursday and was described as a "short but intense period of disorder" by the RUC to the Press Association.

In Belfast gunmen from the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters fired sub-machine guns into the air as a show of strength.

The Orange Order is due to hold its annual Twelfth demonstrations -- parades marking the victory of the Protestant King William over his Catholic rival King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 -- later on Thursday

The anniversary comes against a background of continuing deadlock in the political process to save the Good Friday Agreement.

The talks, being held at Weston Park, England, broke up for a third day on Wednesday without any sign of a compromise over paramilitary decommissioning, RUC reform and demilitarisation.

The UK and Irish prime ministers suspended the talks until Friday.

"We have given the parties some time to reflect. We will come back on Friday," UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday.

"Though obviously there are substantial areas of disagreement and difficulty...we are going to work with complete determination and some hope that we can find a way through."

Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the republican political party, asked if he expected agreement on disarmament, the reform of the Northern Ireland police service and a reduction in military bases, said: "Well, they haven't been worked out in the last few days. We are dealing with hundreds of years of conflict."

He said there was hope, though it was "soiled and wounded."

Members of the Ulster Unionist delegation left the talks early to return to Northern Ireland for the annual marches.

The independent Parades Commission -- set up by the UK Government to rule on contentious marches such as the one at Drumcree -- will come in for heavy criticism from the various platforms.

Orangemen, furious at the ban on some of their parades, have pledged to take the Commission to court for breaching the European Convention on Human Rights.

They will also use the annual demonstrations to launch a "Covenant for Human Rights" as part of the campaign to restore their right to march.

Orangemen in Londonderry have been angered by the Parades Commission's ban on the parade entering the nationalist Cityside.

They are also expected to stage a protest at the Craigavon Bridge, which separates the loyalist Waterside from the West Bank of the city.

Another potential hotspot is the nationalist Ardoyne area of north Belfast, the focal point of angry clashes between loyalists and republicans last month.

Security will be tight as an Orange "feeder" parade passes Ardoyne Road to join the start of the main parade close to the city centre.

The local RUC district commander Chief Superintendent Roger Maxwell wrote to Ardoyne Road residents outlining security plans for the event and warning that it may need a substantial police operation.

In south Belfast, Orangemen from Ballynafeigh District will be prevented again from crossing the bridge on to the mainly nationalist Lower Ormeau Road.

For the past two years the Belfast demonstration has switched to Ormeau Park in support of Ballynafeigh, but this year will revert to its normal location at Edenderry, a few miles from Lisburn in Co Antrim.