| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More violence at G-8 protests
ANNEMASSE, France (CNN) -- Thousands of anti-globalization protesters clashed with police on both sides of the French-Swiss border Sunday as the G-8 Summit went ahead. The demonstrations proved largely peaceful, but there were also incidents of violence. The protests were kept about 20 miles away from the summit in Evian. In the French suburb of Annemasse, which was set aside as a site for protests, some demonstrators set fire to a barricade. In Lausanne, on the Swiss side of the border, a gas station and supermarket were trashed. In each case authorities responded with tear gas and rubber pellets. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests. A protest march Sunday morning drew an estimated 20,000 protesters, according to French police, with about 12,000 on the French side of the border and 8,000 on the Swiss side. After, several thousand remained in Vallard, a small village near Annemasse, with many sitting atop buildings and blocking traffic. CNN's Jim Bitterrman reported that in Vallard, French riot police had been drafted in to protect a branch of the U.S. fast food chain giant MacDonalds, but withdrew in the early evening. President Bush is among the attendees at the G-8 meeting, which includes the United States, France, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. (Full story) China is also taking part in the summit. Most protesters, an ad-hoc collection of left-wing environmentalists and anarchists, have advocated peaceful demonstrations. There are 10,000 security personnel to protect the meeting from violent protests and terrorist attacks. There is a no-fly zone over Evian, and anti-aircraft missile batteries have been set up. On Saturday, protesters in Annemasse threw stones and smashed windows of some buildings in hopes of breaking up a meeting of France's Socialist Party. The police fired tear gas at the crowd. -- CNN Correspondent Jim Bittermann contributed to this report
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
