21.   Protestant mobs had rioted and caused civil disorder widely throughout the British-ruled province since police blocked the march Sunday, citing local Catholic opposition.

22.   Rival Catholic and Protestant mobs, meanwhile, clashed in Ardoyne, a district of north Belfast that has suffered recurring sectarian confrontations for the past year.

23.   The precariousness of peace efforts was highlighted hours later, as riot police battled rival Catholic and Protestant mobs early Thursday in northern Belfast.

24.   The risk that Protestant mobs would ransack businesses and hijack cars made downtown Belfast a virtual ghost town Wednesday night.

25.   They are organizing near-constant illegal parades and human roadblocks, but deny responsibility for the violence of Protestant mobs.

26.   A Northern Ireland police watchdog is to investigate claims that officers looked on as a howling Protestant mob kicked a Roman Catholic to death, police said Friday.