Global General

Cars burnt out in N.Ireland as queen visits south

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-18 22:16

BELFAST - Three vehicles were destroyed overnight in Londonderry in a wave of arson attacks in Northern Ireland coinciding with the historic visit to Dublin by Queen Elizabeth.

Police in Northern Ireland are on high alert against attempts by dissident republicans to carry out attacks linked to the queen's visit, the first to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch since Ireland won independence in 1921.

Dissident republicans threw petrol bombs into the car of a former Catholic politician Liam Bradley, whose son joined the police force, a police spokesman said.

The former mayor of Londonderry has been targeted before by dissident groups who oppose Catholics joining the police.

A van and car were also hijacked and set on fire in Londonderry overnight. Police said two armed men were responsible for at least one of the attacks.

They later sealed off an area of the city after reports of a suspicious object in a road.

That followed a series of bomb alerts across Northern Ireland on Tuesday.