23 Officers Hurt in Belfast Riots

Rioting flared all day Sunday in a divided section of Belfast as Northern Ireland headed toward a crucial legislative vote. Officials said 23 police officers were injured.

Roman Catholics and Protestants fought along Limestone Road, a flash point for sectarian violence in the provincial capital, a Royal Ulster Constabulary spokesman said.

One civilian was taken to a hospital with facial injuries, possibly from a pipe bomb, he said.

Several homemade grenades were thrown at police and army lines in the fighting, police said. They said 23 officers were wounded.

Protestants are split over the significance of the destruction of an arms cache last week by the Irish Republican Army.

The outlawed Catholic militants began disarmament--a key phase of the Northern Ireland peace process that the IRA had stalled on--as the British province’s Protestant-Catholic government approached collapse.

David Trimble, leader of the largest Protestant party, declared the IRA move a breakthrough and said he would seek reelection as first minister--the post he quit in frustration in July.

On Saturday, the Ulster Unionist Party executive backed Trimble’s bid to reclaim the position in a legislative vote expected next week.

But hard-liners say they don’t know how many weapons the IRA destroyed. They want assurances that total disarmament will follow.