Protestant Feud Escalates Tensions

Tensions escalated in Northern Ireland after a man was injured in a shooting and 20 homes were attacked after more than a week of violence linked to a feud between Protestant guerrillas. Politicians said the fledgling home-rule government will not be at risk unless Roman Catholic republican groups are drawn into the violence, which has in the past few days been confined to Protestant groups. The feud began as a turf war in Belfast, the provincial capital, between so-called loyalist Protestant groups but has now spread to other areas.