By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned the recent violence on the streets of Northern Ireland and urged all parties to confront the sectarian challenges together.
She was speaking during a visit to the state, where she met First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at Stormont before attending a lunch at Titanic Belfast in the city's docklands.
This is her second visit as secretary of state. The last was in 2009 when she encouraged the devolution of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast.
Mrs Clinton arrived in Northern Ireland just hours after a bomb was discovered in a car.
Officers investigating dissident republican activity had stopped the vehicle in the Creggan area of Londonderry on Thursday evening.
Armagh's Mayor Sharon Haughey, then 14, with President Clinton in 1995 Two men aged 47 and 49 were arrested at the scene at about 8.40pm. Two others, also in their 40s, were detained later.
Security chiefs believe dissident republicans opposed to the peace process were planning an attack in the centre of the city, next year's UK City of Culture.
Police have also revealed the discovery of a letter bomb at a postbox in a loyalist area of Co Down. The bomb was made safe and taken away for forensic examination.
It comes as tensions have been running high over flags, and the peace that Mrs Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, helped to build remains far from perfect.
A vote to limit the flying of the Union flag over Belfast City Hall has sparked several days of loyalist protests, some violent.
Mrs Clinton has already visited Dublin and met children at the US embassy The civil unrest had been threatening to overshadow Mrs Clinton's visit.
Speaking after meeting Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness, the US politician told reporters: "I'm very pleased to be back. The place keeps drawing me back".
Mrs Clinton added: "Peace does take sacrifice, compromise and vigilance day after day. We've seen that again this week that the work is not complete. We have seen violence break out again.
"I join with both Peter and Martin and all the leaders and citizens who have condemned the recent attacks in Belfast and around the whole area.
"All parties need to confront the remaining challenges of sectarian division peacefully and together."
Peter Robinson has urged loyalists to suspend their protests over the flag issue. "Those who riot and engage in violence do a disservice to the flag they claim to represent," he said.
His statement followed attacks on the homes and offices of politicians belonging to the neutral Alliance Party, which had encouraged a compromise - the flying of the flag on designated days.
It was 1995 when the Clintons paid their first historic visit to Northern Ireland. Thousands turned out to greet them and to herald the dawn of the peace process here.
Teenager Sharon Haughey, who had written a letter about 'The Troubles' to the White House, welcomed them to Armagh. She's now the city's Lord Mayor and gives them the credit.
"The Clintons have played a very important role in the pathway that I have chosen in my life," she said. "They gave me a platform as a very ordinary 14-year-old schoolgirl.
"They gave me an extraordinary opportunity and I decided to use that opportunity to help shape that future that I wanted and that's really why I'm here today."
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