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Warning as G8 clashes turn violent
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SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSEDINBURGH, Scotland -- As many as 100 protesters have begun appearing in court following violent clashes with police as officials promised zero tolerance for troublemakers ahead of Wednesday's G8 summit. Riot police in Edinburgh were bombarded with paving stones, bricks and park benches by protesters who officials said descended on the Scottish capital intent on causing disruption. Police said about 100 people were arrested Monday, including what officials called "key" anarchist suspects who had traveled to Scotland from across Europe. "Make no bones about it, if we encounter people who are prepared to use violence to achieve their aims ... we will take robust action," Tayside Police Chief Constable John Vine told reporters Tuesday in Auchterarder, the village closest to the Gleneagles resort where the world leaders will gather. "We want to allow the peaceful protest of the majority to take place unhindered by any rogue elements who are set on disruption and confrontation," he said. "We will not flinch where we encounter such behavior and will deal with it in a robust and measured way." More than 20 protesters and police officers were injured in over six hours of running clashes, baton charges and mounted surges in and around the Princes Street shopping area on Monday. The city center was brought to a standstill, and businesses were forced to close with their staff locked inside. Standoffs between police and protesters continued late into the evening. Some protesters were dressed as clowns but others, black-clad and hooded, shouted "scum" and "You're gonna die" at police. One managed to steal a police riot shield. Police condemned the organizers of Monday's events, saying that some of those involved had been bent on violence from the start. "We are facing a hard-core of determined activists, supported by hangers-on. Large numbers have been facing up to the police, they are clearly organized and coordinated, said Tom Halpin, assistant chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police. "We have recovered maps, radios, mobile telephones and weapons, including stones and staves and other missiles which have been thrown at police officers," Halpin told the UK's Press Association. Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof condemned Monday's violent protesters as "idiots" as he set off on a train from London to Scotland on his anti-poverty crusade, joined by Hollywood acting couple Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. "It was just stupid and unnecessary and to be condemned. That won't affect the decisions of eight men (at the summit)," Geldof said. Mindful of the violence that erupted at previous G8 summits in Genoa, Italy, in 2001 and Evian, France, in 2003, Scottish police were taking no chances. At Gleneagles, the rural site for the Group of Eight summit north of Edinburgh, 10,000 police were on standby amid watchtowers, surveillance cameras, a no-fly zone and a five-mile ring of steel around the hotel and country club. On Tuesday, three anti-poverty activists chained themselves to the top of a high-rise crane above Edinburgh's Waverley train station and unfurled a banner stating, "No more Brownwash" -- a reference to Britain's Treasury chief, Gordon Brown. Also, environmental activists were expected to target an oil refinery in the buildup to the G8 summit. Campaigners were set to protest outside the BP plant at Grangemouth, near Falkirk, to challenge the G8 to put the needs of people before the demands of the oil industry. Members of Friends of the Earth Scotland and eco-pressure group People and Planet will dress as mermaids and beach-goers to highlight the dangers posed by global warming. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who set the agenda as this year's G8 host, has said he wants to achieve breakthroughs global warming as well as aid to Africa. G8 'may disappoint'But his finance minister, Brown, admitted Tuesday the summit risks disappointing anti-poverty campaigners like rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof, who organized this past Saturday's Live 8 concerts. Hundreds of top musicians performed at free rock concerts in 10 cities around the world to raise awareness about Africa's plight and bring pressure on G8 leaders to act. (Full story) Brown said British officials have "worked well" with the Live 8 organizers. But the UK is constrained by other countries, and the famous activists will always call on the British government to do more, he said. Speaking on BBC television, Brown said he told the organizers: "I know that what you will tell us (is) we've got to do more. "I know that what you will say is that what we can achieve is perhaps not good enough, but we have got to bring the whole of the world together. "What Britain says is one thing, what we can persuade the rest of the world to do together is what we will get as the outcome of Gleneagles." Geldof, however, rejected Brown's latest comments as "unacceptible." "I'm not prepared to be disappointed. I don't think that is an option. I don't think (Brown) should try lowering the bar at this stage. We have come for victory. "It has to happen now. Not to do it now would be grotesquely irresponsible." The G8 summit, which meets Wednesday-Friday at the Gleneagles hotel and country club north of Edinburgh, brings together the leaders of Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. U.S. President George W. Bush, who begins his European trip with a stop in Denmark Tuesday, has already said he will not sign up to anything that damages the U.S. economy. (Full story) Negotiations ahead of the summit are being complicated by Wednesday's announcement in Singapore of which city will host 2012 Olympic Games. (Full story) Anglo-French relations, already poor, have not been helped by French President Jacques Chirac's jokes about British food and mad cow disease. (Full story) British officials fear that if London wins the Games instead of rival Paris, Chirac will take revenge in Gleneagles, PA reported. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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