New violence in G8 run-up after weekend riots

GERMANY saw fresh clashes yesterday between protesters and police ahead of this week's G8 summit as anti-globalisation activists fought to keep their cause from being hijacked by a violent minority.

Skirmishes broke out in the northern city of Rostock between police and about 400 extremists, some of whom pelted officers with bottles during a demonstration against refugee policy in the Group of Eight club of rich nations, authorities said.

Four protesters were detained for violating a police ban on wearing masks at a rally in front of a home for refugees where in 1992 neo-Nazis terrorised Vietnamese asylum-seekers to the applause of their German neighbours.

It was the second outbreak of violence in the run-up to the G8 summit starting tomorrow in the nearby Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm, following riots last Saturday in Rostock that left nearly 1,000 people injured.

The weekend protests turned bloody when a core group of extremists, clad in black clothing and balaclavas, fought pitched battles with police.

Police said 433 officers were wounded last Saturday — 30 of them seriously — leading to calls for a new security strategy during the summit.

"Nothing can justify the violence," Chancellor Angela Merkel told public television late last Sunday. "We will have no tolerance for violent demonstrators."

Authorities have mounted an extensive security operation for the summit, with up to 16,000 police on duty.

Organisers have wrapped the summit venue in a ring of steel and barbed wire while air and sea access have been closed.

An interior ministry spokesman said yesterday that up to 20 per cent of the 128 people detained last Saturday were from abroad. Bulgarian, Austrian, Japanese, Swedish, French and Russian demonstrators were reportedly among the violent protesters.

Police said yesterday they believed about 2,000 of those responsible for the weekend riots were still in the region.

The three-day G8 meeting is to focus on climate change, aid for Africa and the state of the global economy. But as in previous years, the demonstrations threatened to overshadow the summit.

In 2001, police and rioters in the northern Italian city of Genoa battled for days.AFP