Police, Protestant Protesters Square Off

Police reinforcements arrived in Portadown as thousands of Orange Order members crowded into the town, where a protest by Protestants against a marching ban went into its fifth day. In other towns, police faced gun and bomb attacks, while in Belfast, the provincial capital, gangs of Protestant youths hurled stones at security forces, hijacked cars and blocked roads by burning the vehicles. Orange leaders were scheduled to hold talks in London with Prime Minister Tony Blair today, but a compromise on the ban looked unlikely.