LEADING republicans in Derry, including Mr Martin McGuinness, pleaded with hundreds of youths on the streets last night to avoid confrontation with the British army and RUC.
The crowd had gathered as the army moved in shortly after 11 p.m. to the area behind Magazine Gate, and a stand-off developed.
Mr Donncha MacNiallais of the Bggside Residents Group, who joined Sinn Fein councillors in urging the young people to go back to the Bogside, said: "They say they are moving in to seal off the gate but they could have done that at 6 o'clock in the morning when there is nobody around, but they are just spoiling for a fight." He said it was impossible to get the young people back when the army was still around. Shortly afterwards the army moved away from the gate and Mr MacNiallais addressed the crowd in Waterloo Place. "What we are talking about here is an uneven fight between bricks and plastic bullets," he said.
The focus should be on what happened on the Garvaghy Road and what would happen later in the week on the Ormeau Road in Belfast, Mr MacNiallais said.
"We don't want to give the British media the excuse to say this is all about burning shops and burning people's cars." Telling them, "We are all on the same side here", he urged them to go to a public meeting being held by the Bogside Residents Group tonight.
Earlier Sinn Fein councillors and men who described themselves as being close to Sinn Fein had shouted: "There's about 50 of them lined up with plastic bullets waiting to kill you."
After Mr MacNiallais's address most of the crowd started to disperse but within half an hour they had come back to Waterloo Place, close to Magazine Gate. Some bottles were thrown but there were no major disturbances. Later rioting started but Sinn Fein activists calmed the crowd which dispersed in the early hours of this morning.