Photographer shot in Belfast sectarian clashes

Violence rocked Belfast for a second night in fights between Catholics and Protestants A photographer was shot in the leg and police were pelted with petrol bombs in a second night of sectarian violence between Protestants and Catholics in Belfast overnight Tuesday to Wednesday. Police used water cannon as about 700 people gathered in the Lower Newtownards Road area of the mainly Protestant east Belfast late Tuesday, and two men suffered burn injuries in the worst such violence for years.
Gun shots were fired, which police believed came from the nearby Catholic area of Short Strand, and a photographer working for Britain's Press Association news agency was hit in the lower leg.
He was taken to hospital but was said to be in a stable condition.
It was the second consecutive night of rioting after violence broke out Monday following attacks on homes in Short Strand, blamed on suspected Protestant gangs who support British rule, local officials said.
Two people were hospitalised that night with gunshot wounds, and rioters threw petrol bombs, fireworks, bricks, stones and smoke bombs, police said. Between 400 and 500 people joined in the disorder, which lasted several hours.
"It is probably the worst violence we have seen in that area for some considerable time," said Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, after Monday night's violence.
Police said the disturbances were initiated by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), one of the biggest loyalist groups in Northern Ireland but which has observed a ceasefire and decommisioned its weapons.
Government insiders said the reemergence of guns in Belfast was "worrying" -- most groups involved in The Troubles, the three decades of sectarian violence that largely ended with 1998 peace accords, have given up their weapons.
Despite a heavy security presence on Tuesday night, the violence erupted as local television station UTV reported that a man was seriously ill in hospital after his skull was fractured by a breeze block.
"Approximately 700 people have gathered in the area and a number of items including petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks have been thrown," a police spokeswoman said late Tuesday, adding that police also discharged baton rounds.
First Minister Peter Robinson, from the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), condemned the disturbances, as did his deputy Martin McGuinness, from the Catholic Sinn Fein party.
"At this time when many are working hard to build a better and brighter future for all in Northern Ireland, it is disappointing and deeply concerning to see this level of violence return to our streets," Robinson said.
McGuinness said: "A small minority of individuals are clearly determined to destabilise our communities. They will not be allowed to drag us back to the past. I call on all those involved to take a step back and to remain calm.
"I support the efforts of community leaders on all sides who have been working on the ground to restore calm in east Belfast."
After Monday's unrest, Belfast mayor Niall O Donnghaile, who is also a Sinn Fein councillor, claimed the attacks on homes in Short Strand were unprovoked.
But Ulster Unionist lawmaker Michael Copeland said they were in response to attacks by Catholic republicans on Protestant properties over the last week.