LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland (AP) ― Irish Republican Army supporters clashed with police Monday and forced Olympic torch organizers to divert the route of their relay, marring what had been a jubilant day’s procession through a sun-soaked Northern Ireland.

Police said at least one protester was arrested after members of a 200-strong group broke through police lines as the torch passed the city hall building in Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second-largest city. Londonderry is a power base for several small IRA factions still plotting to wreck the peace process. No serious injuries were reported.

The protesters made clear they were seeking to confront police, not the Olympic torch itself. Many carried placards denouncing the police, who have mounted raids in hardline Irish republican parts of the city ahead of the torch’s visit.

<YONHAP PHOTO-0263> The Olympic torch bearer is re-routed by Olympic securtiy personall after protestors tussle with police near Peace Bridge in Londonderry , Northern Ireland on June 4, 2012. The Olympic Torch relay started at Land's End, the southwest tip of England, to begin an 8,000-mile (12,875-kilometre) journey around Britain, with a detour to also visit the Irish capital Dublin. It will culminate in the flame being brought to the Olympic Stadium for the opening of the Games on July 27.AFP PHOTO / PETER MUHLY../2012-06-05 05:42:36/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2012 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> An Olympic torch-bearer is directed by Olympic security personnel in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Monday. AFP-Yonhap News
The Olympic torch bearer is re-routed by Olympic securtiy personall after protestors tussle with police near Peace Bridge in Londonderry , Northern Ireland on June 4, 2012. The Olympic Torch relay started at Land's End, the southwest tip of England, to begin an 8,000-mile (12,875-kilometre) journey around Britain, with a detour to also visit the Irish capital Dublin. It will culminate in the flame being brought to the Olympic Stadium for the opening of the Games on July 27.AFP PHOTO / PETER MUHLY../2012-06-05 05:42:36/ <저작권자 ⓒ 1980-2012 ㈜연합뉴스. 무단 전재 재배포 금지.> An Olympic torch-bearer is directed by Olympic security personnel in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Monday. AFP-Yonhap News

An Olympic torch-bearer is directed by Olympic security personnel in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Monday. (AFP-Yonhap News)

Hours before the torch arrived in Londonderry, British Army experts dealt with a suspected bomb left near a Catholic high school but declared it a hoax device. Police also arrested a suspected IRA member in an unrelated raid. On Saturday, police were attacked with a homemade grenade, wrecking the front of their sports utility vehicle but injuring no officers.

While most IRA members renounced violence and disarmed in 2005, several splinter groups continue to mount attacks, particularly against police.

Officers surrounding the torchbearer, 58-year-old Isobel Coote, quickly changed course and escorted her down a side street where she resumed her journey to the city’s new pedestrian Peace Bridge. It spans the River Foyle, which divides Londonderry into a predominantly British Protestant east side and an Irish Catholic west.

Londonderry’s member of the British Parliament, Mark Durkan, said most residents would be “absolutely disgusted” that anti-British militants had undermined such a positive day for the city. He said they broke a behind-the-scenes agreement not to interfere with the torch run.

“It was not a massive detour ... but it was not what was planned and that is pretty embarrassing,” Durkan said.


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