British refuse direct talks with IRA if strike goes on

Northern Ireland Secretary Humphrey Atkins said Britain would not directly negotiate with Irish nationalist hunger strikers unless they ended the fast that has claimed six lives. H-block Committee officials, who are coordinating the protest, who are coordinating the protest, said in Dublin they plan another mass protest for next weekend similar to Saturday's demonstration by more than 15,000 people outside the British Embassy, which turned into a full-scale riot.

Eight Maze prison inmates are fasting to press demands for political prisoner status. Britain refuses any concessions, and outside mediation attempts have not produced any results.

Irish security chiefs are preparing a report on Saturday's riot, in which 180 people were hurt -- the worst outbreak of violence in Dublin since the 1972 sacking of the British Embass y.