US police fire rubber bullets at protesters

POLICE fired rubber bullets yesterday against hundreds of anti-war protesters blocking a road near Oakland’s port in California, witnesses and officials said.

Local media reported several longshoremen were injured in what is believed to be the first police use of rubber bullets against demonstrators since President George W Bush launched a war on Iraq.

Demonstrators were seeking to block access to American President Lines, a shipping company they claimed was profiting from the war. Police at the scene said they used two types of rubber bullets to disperse about 750 protesters and some arrests were made.