"Sorrows" reappear in Ireland

30 dead in sectarian violence

BELFAST, IRELAND (RWN) - In the old days, the fights between the Protestants and the Catholics were known as "The Sorrows." But today, in the blood-stained streets of Belfast, "The Sorrows" refer to a new fight - one between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

In renewed violence overnight, 20 Shi'ites and 10 Sunnis were killed in Belfast when rival street gangs clashed, an Irish blogger named "SadEyes" reported.

"It happened down the street from me," SadEyes wrote, "and the police never did anything. The gangs had been taunting each other all day long - you could hear it up and down the streets - 'Dirty Muslim' and 'Faker' back and forth. I saw a police unit out there, but the coppers didn't do anything. They pulled out when they saw the size of the group. I'd estimate it at 200 people between the two."

Belfast has been the sectarian violence over the last two weeks, as a majority Catholic police force has withdrawn from rough neighborhoods after seeing 14 officers killed by street gangs over a three-month period.

Emboldened by the police pullout, the two largest gangs, the Sunni "Fedayeen" and the Shi'ite "Lords of Darkness" began terrorizing neighborhoods, taking what they wanted in the name of their sect.

Two weeks ago, a Shi'ite shopkeeper in south Belfast was killed after his daughter was raped by Sunni gang members on the floor of their grocery store. Three Sunni businesses were burned in retaliation.

"I thought there was a chance that everyone could live together," said Mullah Waya, the highest-ranking Sunni cleric in Ireland. "And maybe they can. But these groups have made it impossible to talk to our brothers. There is too much fear in the air."

In the meantime, the British Army is staying out all together, and pleas to the Belfast police by Ireland's Prime Minister, Abu Masa, have fallen on unwilling ears.

"Hell, no, I'm not going to risk any more of my men's lives trying to get these gangs to stop doing what they're doing," Belfast Police Chief Kenny O'Shea said. "We've told the citizenry that if any of them want safe passage out of these neighborhoods, they can call us and we'll send a heavily reinforced column to get them out, but beyond that, I'm not expending any bodies.

"My hope is that everyone on both sides kills each other and then - no problem."


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