IN A massive security operation, 1,500 RUC officers sealed off a large area of north Belfast last night to allow an Orange Order march through a nationalist district.
Several people were injured and a number of arrests were made when the RUC in not gear moved in to drag some 350 nationalist protesters off the Cliftonville Road.
Disturbances broke out after the route was cleared. Petrol bombs and missiles were thrown at police and a van was set alight on the Antrim Road.
Among those lifted off the road by police was Sinn Fein representative for the area, Mr Gerry Kelly, who was handcuffed and put into an RUC Land Rover.
"I had gone to the cordon to protest that the RUC wouldn't let people into their own area. They wouldn't let them go to the shops," he said.
"The RUC wouldn't let them do anything. They then tried to refuse me entry. I told them that I was an elected representative and was there as an observer. They wouldn't let me in so I climbed over the jeep and went in.
"They threw me into the jeep. They locked the jeep and went away. I opened the jeep and tried to get out. They threw me back in. I then saw my chance and just ran. They ripped my clothes asunder. They have my glasses. I cut the handcuffs off myself."
The RUC assistant chief constable for Belfast, Mr Bill Stewart, said every effort had been made to allow a peaceful protest. "When the police asked people to move, they wouldn't. Their stewards told them to sit down.
"We had to clear the road but the crowd resisted. Policemen were spat on. Two police officers were slightly injured. One was knocked unconscious.
"During the operation to clear the road, the minimum force possible was used to achieve this objective."
Huge screens were erected at flashpoints to separate the protesters from the marchers. The protesters chanted "55 RUC" as the parade passed.
Mr Kelly had urged the crowd not to throw missiles at police or marchers and insisted that it. remain a peaceful protest. Sinn Fein members said the protest had been a victory as the media had witnessed RUC "brutality".
An SDLP councillor, Mr Martin Morgan, said the RUC had "certainly overplayed their hand in dealing with this".
He said it was a peaceful protest by the demonstrators.
"The police gave them a very limited amount of time to disperse and they quickly moved in and were dragging people away, and very quickly after that they put on their riot gear to take people away.
The INLA's political wing the Irish Republican Socialist Party blamed the RUC for the civil unrest and said unionists were still not willing to accommodate nationalists.
"Having cast the die for the forthcoming marching season, the British and unionists must accept the consequences," a party spokeswoman said.
Traffic was diverted for several hours before the march was due. An RUC spokesman said that the parade completed its route at 10 p.m. on schedule.
Sporadic rioting was continuing in the New Lodge Road area of the city early today.