Police braced for N. Ireland march

Catholic protesters were prevented from reaching another march last week

PORTADOWN, Northern Ireland -- Police in Northern Ireland are preparing for potential violence from loyalist militants angry over restrictions on the contentious Drumcree parade planned for this weekend.

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen White told the Associated Press he was concerned about the threat of trouble in Portadown.

White, who is in charge of co-ordinating efforts to stop Orange Order marchers from approaching the town's Catholic district, said: "One spark could ignite or inflame the situation. So I'm very concerned. But police, along with our army colleagues, are prepared to face any threat."

The Protestant Orange Order group promised a peaceful protest at police barriers during the annual parade, which has been prevented since 1998 from passing through Portadown's major Catholic area, Garvaghy Road.

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Supporters of the outlawed Ulster Defence Association rallied in the area on Thursday night.

Portadown's Orange Order spokesman, David Jones, quoted by AP, said the group did not want anybody to mount attacks on police-army lines, as has happened in most years since 1996 during the march, which begins at Drumcree church.

"We were comforted by the statement put out by the UDA earlier this week," Jones said, referring to a pledge that the group's commanders would keep their members under control in the coming days.

The Northern Ireland Parades Commission upheld this week an earlier decision to ban the march from the Catholic area.

Meanwhile, there were more talks on Friday aimed at preventing the collapse of Northern Ireland's power-sharing assembly after the resignation of First Minister David Trimble over a lack of progress in disarmament by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

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Ulster Unionist Party Trimble said he wasn't optimistic of progress being made in talks planned for Monday, reported AP.

Northern Ireland's four-party coalition will face suspension if Trimble's post is not filled by August 12.

Trimble said the only way to make progress was for the IRA to hand over weapons to back the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. He insisted next week's talks were purely about disarmament.

But Sinn Fein, the republican political party, ridiculed the claim.

"Poor David. David's living in fantasy world," said Martin McGuinness, the former IRA commander who is education minister in the power-sharing assembly.

McGuinness said there would also be discussions about demands for more military cutbacks in Northern Ireland and a more drastic overhaul of the province's police force.

On Friday Trimble apologised for claiming that a Catholic man killed this week may have been targeted by the IRA because he was involved in drug trafficking. Police said Ciaran Cummings, 19, was shot dead on Wednesday by an extremist Protestant gang.