Protestants Attack British Official at Belfast City Hall

Ulster Protestants enraged by a 5-day-old Anglo-Irish agreement attacked Northern Ireland Secretary Tom King on his way into City Hall today and trapped him in the building for nearly two hours.

King was punched, kicked and grabbed in a hammerlock during the attack by about 50 people who screamed abuse and chanted, “Traitor, traitor!” before the British official was whisked to safety by bodyguards and police.

A witness said the shaken King, Britain’s highest representative in Ulster, at one point was hit on the head by a flagpole draped with a Union Jack but did not require medical attention.

Police swarmed into the city center and closed off roads, creating massive traffic jams, before removing King from City Hall.

Police ‘Move Softly’

Police reported one arrest, and sources said they had apparently decided to “move softly” to prevent further protests. There were no reports of serious injury.

An ashen-faced King later called his attackers “thugs” and said: “If they are not capable of rational argument and resort to this method, then it can only hurt their case. Such violence and abusive reaction do not reflect the feelings of the vast majority of people.”

King’s car was pelted with eggs as he arrived at City Hall for his first speaking engagement in the province since the pact was signed Friday.

He was jostled by the crowd, and one attacker got him in a headlock and tried to throw him before he escaped into the building.

City Hall Blockaded

Fighting broke out between the crowd and King’s bodyguards, and witnesses said the mob of Protestants then blocked all four entrances to the large Victorian-era City Hall--some with cars--and laid siege to the building.

Under the deal signed last week, Dublin for the first time recognized the status of the British-ruled province in exchange for being given an advisory role in the affairs of Ulster.

King had been scheduled to address broadcasting officials today when the attack occurred,

Earlier today, he participated in an hourlong radio phone-in show during which Protestant callers hurled abuse at him and threatened to resist the agreement.