WORLD : Get Out, Belfast Mayor Tells Media
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Belfast’s Lord Mayor told foreign television crews and photographers to get out of his city today after police complained that their presence prolonged rioting.
“If these people want action, they should go to Beirut and leave us alone,” Mayor Reg Empey told local reporters.
“It seems to me that the density and quantity of news crews is a source of incitement. They are only here for blood and guts,” he added.
The international media have converged on Belfast for the 20th anniversary of British troops being sent to Northern Ireland, and police argue that phalanxes of cameras encouraged young rioters to “put on a show.”
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