Fragile peace in east Belfast
AFTER two consecutive days of serious rioting in east Belfast there was an uneasy calm on the city interface on Wednesday night.
As talks between community representatives gather pace, so-called community marshalls patrolled the streets of the lower Newtownards Road in an attempt to defuse tensions.
However, there were reports of stand-offs between loyalist and republican groups.
First minister Peter Robinson and deputy First minister Martin McGuinness have dispatched a senior civil servant to investigate the main interface concerns.
Dissident republicans are suspected of firing live rounds which left a press photographer with a leg injury, while two other men suffered bullet wounds amid two nights of violence.
A barrage of petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks was thrown at security force lines on Tuesday night, with two men suffering burn injuries and officers firing dozens of plastic bullets.
A 20-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and assaulting police.
On Wednesday night, police arrested a 22-year-old man from west Belfast in connection with the troubles. A police spokeswoman said he was being questioned in Antrim.
Police said the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had orchestrated the trouble.
