16/01/2004

Security alerts in Belfast end

A spate of security alerts that were caused by abandoned vehicles this moring have ended.

However, the incidents, that were being blamed on Loyalist paramiltaries, resulted in the closure of several major traffic routes in the Belfast areas this morning.

Both carriageways of the MI which was closed from the Saintfield Road (junction 6) to Broadway (junction 1) by a security alert caused by a vehicle abandoned at Stockman's Lane has reopened.

However, Roads Service Traffic Watch service reported that the Westlink both directions between Grosvenor Road and Broadway was "busy". Traffic on other the main routes and motorways leading into and around the city this afternoon were said to be "moving normally for the time of day" and no other significant delays were reported this afternoon.

Eariler alerts in west Belfast closed Kennedy Way and the Falls Road and Springfield Road junction for as time. And in North Belfast Army technical experts carried out a controlled explosion near Our Lady of Mercy school on the Ligoniel Road.

Elsewhere, families in Newtownabbey were moved from their homes as a suspicious vehicle was examined.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Martin Morgan, condemned the wave of bomb scares across the City: “These alerts have not only disrupted public life and hindered people going about their normal routine but also have hit vital services for everyone in Belfast.

“Such incidents bring nothing positive to the life of the City and are not the way for anyone to air whatever grievances they may have,” added the Lord Mayor.

(SP)

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