Protest disrupts Olympic torch relay

Scuffles between protesters and police break out in Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

On Monday, the Olympic torch relay was interrupted here, during a dissident Republican protest over the treatment of prisoners.

One man was arrested after the incident, which took place as the flame was about to pass the peace bridge linking divided communities in the city.

No one was injured, and the torch was re-routed.

Security was already tight in the city after explosives were thrown at police.

Despite this, Northern Ireland is a very peaceful place compared to a generation earlier, when Catholic Irish nationalists and pro-British Protestants fought a protracted and bloody war.

The torch was welcomed here Saturday by both Protestant and Nationalist political leaders, who now together lead the government of the British-controlled province.

Travis Brecher, Reuters