Appeals for calm in Belfast

The Ardoyne has long been a scene of confrontation

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- The British Government has appealed for calm after the latest night of violence in Northern Ireland.

A suspected Protestant gunman opened fire during a night of renewed rioting in north Belfast.

Police were pelted with gasoline bombs, stones and bottles as around 300 rioters took to the streets Friday night.

On Saturday, Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid warned people living in the area not to be manipulated by elements plotting to wreck the peace process.

After holding talks with a Sinn Fein delegation to discuss the continuing violence, he said: "I would urge those in the communities which are afflicted by that not to allow themselves to be used by those who have a wider purpose which is to destroy the political process."

Reid insisted dialogue was the only way to ease the tensions which have gripped parts of the city.

He told the Press Association: "I understand that there is a feeling of isolation and in some cases of alienation by the communities which is particularly high during a period when there is political discussion going on, an attempt to move forward the Good Friday Agreement.

"But I would urge everyone to do everything they can to promote the dialogue between the two sides."

Laet on Saturday, the RUC said it had seized some 30 primed petrol bombs and almost 200 bottles in north Belfast.

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A large quantity of nuts and bolts, sticks, clubs and iron bars, and several wheelie bins filled with rubble and bricks were also recovered by officers from alleyways and derelict gardens in Clanchattan Street and Newington Street, a spokesman told PA.

During Friday's violence, several volleys of shots -- which Roman Catholics said came from a Protestant area -- were reported in the latest surge of nightly violence that has deepened tension in the provincial capital's rival zones.

Two extended bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in the Ardoyne area. One man was injured by a stray bullet, witnesses said on Saturday.

A police spokeswoman said the victim had sustained a minor face wound, "possibly caused by a ricocheting bullet."

The violence followed an afternoon of direct clashes between Catholics and Protestants in a part of north Belfast where the two communities are separated by a high fence.

The street skirmishes involved hand-to-hand fighting and several people needed hospital treatment, police said.

The violence came only hours after British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern announced they had finished a compromise plan for salvaging Northern Ireland's peace accord.

Sinn Fein blamed the latest outbreak of fighting on the outlawed anti-Catholic group, the Ulster Defence Association.

Sinn Fein party politician Gerry Kelly said: "It is the UDA who are firing automatic fire and trying to shoot people."

"The whole thing has escalated into what is now a bombing and shooting attack on Catholics on a nightly basis."