BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN; Last-gasp hunt for peace as loyalists plan Drumcree war.

Ulster was braced for a weekend of mayhem last night as the stormtroopers of loyalism prepared for war over Drumcree.

The peaceful protest called for by the Orange Order has already been steamrollered by terrifying violence.

Drumcree Hill, where Orangemen bought souvenirs and lounged around barbecues with their families, has mutated into a nightmarish war zone straight out of Apocalypse Now.

Nail bombs have been thrown at police. Loyalist fanatics have hurled themselves at the barbed wire keeping them off the Catholic Garvaghy Road.

At night, streets all over the Province are lit by burning cars.

The first defence line at Drumcree has been breached for the last three nights, with the violence getting steadily worse.

But many loyalists claim we have seen nothing yet. This weekend, they say, the force of their fury may shake the peace process apart.

Northern Ireland is about to reach the climax of its marching season, loved by loyalists, loathed by nationalists and cursed by would-be peacemakers.

The men at Drumcree say 70,000 will be there on Monday, swelling the mob that almost broke through the defences on Thursday.

Last night, the politicians were trying frantically to ward off disaster.

Tony Blair offered to send negotiators to Porta-down to shuttle between the Orangemen and the Garvaghy residents.

The Orange leadership at Drumcree quickly agreed to the talks but warned: "It is still our objective to deliver the Portadown Orangemen down the Garvaghy Road.

"We intend to establish our rights and freedom to express our culture."

Residents' spokesman Brendan McKenna said: "It's a step forward. We should talk face to face but this is better than nothing."

The Orangemen refuse to speak directly to McKenna because he is a convicted IRA terrorist who once tried to blow up the British Legion in Portadown.

The talks will start at a secret location at 9am today, with the aim of sorting out the Drumcree problem once and for all. Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, will act as "facilitator".

Blair's effort, welcomed by Ulster's First Minister David Trimble, followed a day of talks with leaders including Irish Premier Bertie Ahern and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein.

Blair still sees a way out of Ulster's maze of hatred. Despite Drumcree, he knows the vast majority of people want peace.

But if he had been on the Hill on Thursday night, even his optimism might have been shaken.

Again and again the Orangeman had called for peaceful protest. But it was as effective as telling a rabid dog to walk to heel.

A howling mob, 25,000 strong, roared its approval as a coffee jar bomb packed with nails was flung at police on the barricades.

Three officers fell with sickening injuries, framed by the huge arc lights in no man's land. The crowd shrieked with joy, seeming to feed on blood.

The forces of law are provoked and humiliated here in a way that would spark fury on the mainland.

It begins at dawn when army sappers repair the defences ravaged the night before. Orange supporters bray their delight at every mistake by the squaddies.

By mid-morning, the sappers' work is done and the police try to relax.

Some play football, but keep their fireproof balaclavas on in case spotters across the wire see their faces and mark them down for reprisals.

Calling out names and addresses of policemen's wives and children is another of the thugs' favourite pastimes.

The police are mostly loyalist too. But they are upholding the ruling of the hated Parades Commission, so the scum of their community see them as targets.

Several loyalist terrorists have been spotted in the Drumcree crowd.

Mid-afternoon is the quietest time. Drumcree Hill again becomes a bizarre sort of village fete, as the barbecues start up and the Orangemen's tannoy announces mugs and tea towels for sale.

No one even looks at the Chinook helicopters bringing in troop reinforcements.

The calm is short-lived. New arrivals soon swell the crowd and the huge Lambeg drums start up a primitive, tribal beat.

Thousands of cars and coaches bring in more loyalists. Roads are blocked for miles but the police have other worries.

At 7pm, the crowd facing the barricades is 20 deep. Protesters cheer as the reinforcements march in behind Orange bands.

As the light fades at 9.30, the fighting begins.

Masked teenage yobs use sheeting from another part of the barrier to bridge a defensive trench.The mob yells with joy as one youngster, then another and another, get across.

The arc lights are turned on and the noise of the generators joins the drums, the bands, the crowd and the Army helicopters to create a din straight from hell.

On the Garvaghy estate, residents resign themselves to another sleepless night.

Back on the hill, night has fallen. Youths, egged on by middle-aged, middle- class men in orange sashes, attack the first three rows of razor wire with bolt cutters.

A policeman falls in agony after being hit in the mouth by a ball-bearing fired from a catapult.

A soldier clutches his shoulder as his arm is broken by a brick. A cry of "medic, medic" brings an Army ambulance forward to take him to a field hospital at the rear.

The protesters are pouring through the first line of wire and the defences suddenly look flimsy.

One Orangeman said "If we want to go through they will not be able to stop us.

"What you have seen so far is nothing compared to what will come if they do not let us pass."

The police pull back and troops step forward, firing volley after volley of plastic bullets. Snatch squads rush into the crowd to take out ring leaders.

The security forces retreat behind the second row of wire and prepare to make a stand.

All the while, bizarrely, the Tannoy makes announce-ments about prayer meetings and lost children.

One of the youngsters being sought seems to be on the front line. He is about eight, his face is masked, and he is taunting the police with an Orange flag.

The mob mock the security forces by bringing a flute band across the rain- filled ditch to celebrate their capture of enemy territory. An Irish tricolour is unfurled and set alight.

The band pulls back and hundreds of fireworks - rockets and modified thunder flashes - are fired across the divide. A soldier is engulfed by sparks and has to dance to stamp out the fire, much to the amusement of the loyalists.

At midnight, blinding strobe lights are fired into the faces of the police and troops. The protesters will try any trick.

Hours pass with only occasional sorties from the mob. A hooded flag-bearer dances forward to taunt the police, only to be felled by a volley of baton rounds. His mates carry him off.

Belatedly, the tannoy calls for demonstrators to pull back. The Orange leaders have heard about the injuries to police.

Some obey and head for the car parks. Three ambulances fight the departing traffic to reach protesters injured by plastic bullets.

Finally, at dawn, the last of the mob retreat. Empty beer cans and Buckfast bottles lie scattered behind them.

The security forces dread what the weekend may bring. If the Orangemen break through, it could mean a battle on the Garvaghy estate. Hardline nationalists from Belfast's Falls Road have arrived there to "support their people".

One security source admitted: "The worst that could happen is a double front, with fighting on both sides of the lines."

If the last-ditch peace talks fail, the Army is ready to take control at Drumcree. A thousand troops are in place and 1000 more could be called up in minutes.

The source said: "Every-one is hoping for a peaceful resolution but the plans are there. They have to be."

The rest of Ulster is also preparing for trouble. Streets were quiet last night as commuters and shoppers fled home early.

Roadblocks again went up in Loyalist areas.

More than 50 families, almost all Catholic, have already been burned out of their homes.

Young Catholics are patrolling their streets with baseball bats, fearing loyalist attack.

Residents from Belfast's mainly Catholic Lower Ormeau Road failed yesterday in a court bid to overturn a Parades Commission ruling approving an Orange march along their street on Monday.

Judges rejected their argument that the march had been allowed as a sop to the Drumcree protesters.

The residents will now organise a street protest, sparking fears of confrontation with the Orangemen.