Hardline group threatens G8 battle

The first Genoa protest was peaceful with a carnival atmosphere

GENOA, Italy -- Anti-globalisation campaigners are threatening to storm a security cordon in place around the G8 summit which opens in Italy on Friday.

The sealed off "red zone" in the heart of Genoa is expected to be the focus of protests as world leaders meet inside the cordon.

But the first major demonstration, on Thursday, passed off peacefully with an estimated 50,000 people campaigning in support of a range of causes from immigrant rights to the environment.

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Police in riot gear watched as the demonstration snaked through Genoa's streets with a convoy of eight police vans in the lead, but the atmosphere remained largely festive.

March organisers had agreed with authorities earlier in the week that the demonstration would bypass the "red zone" and not attempt to enter the off-limits area.

But the hardline Italian group Tute Bianche, or White Overalls, has vowed to smash through the cordon.

Group leader Luca Casarini told the Reuters news agency thousands of demonstrators would attempt to attack the summit venue on Friday.

Huge steel fences and concrete barricades have been built to cordon off the "red zone" from the rest of the city with tight security covering all entry points.

Only security pass holders and residents are being allowed inside the "red zone" ring of steel by police for the duration of the G8 summit -- an annual meeting of the leaders of the world's leading industrialised nations and Russia.

Up to 100,000 campaigners -- the majority expressing a desire for peaceful protest -- will be in Genoa where 15,000 police will be on duty as part of a $110 million security operation.

Surface-to-air missiles, fighter jets, and naval ships form part of the security operation, which is also responsible for defending the G8 from extremist attacks.

U.S. President George W. Bush said he intended to ensure the world's poor countries were not hurt by free trade rules.

And in a message to protesters he said: "For those who want to shut down trade I say this to them as clearly as I can -- You are hurting poor countries.

"For those who are going to use this opportunity to say the world should become isolationist, you are condemning those who are poor to poverty and we don't accept it."

The G8 -- made up of the U.S., UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Canada and Russia -- will use the summit to discuss the world economy, U.N health initiatives and a raft of other wide-ranging issues.

Tensions have been heightened during the build-up to the summit by two letter bombs exploding in the city, a series of police raids and a tightening of border controls.

The two letter bombs -- one on Wednesday and one on Monday -- each injured one person and there have been a number of other real and hoax bomb threats around the country.