Naked demonstrators in anti-capitalist protest

THREE women protesters lay naked on a home-made Stars and Stripes flag in front of the US Consulate in Sydney yesterday while others burned two American flags, hours before representatives of 25 nations were to discuss how to liberalise world trade.

Scuffles with police broke out after more than 1,000 demonstrators defied a ban on protests in the streets of Australia's most populous city, which is hosting a meeting by rich and poor members of the World Trade Organisation and wraps up tomorrow.

They blocked intersections and chanted slogans against globalisation and a possible war with Iraq.

A newspaper reporter was injured when police on horses broke up parts of the crowd, witnesses said. At least 15 people were arrested and others were detained temporarily.

New South Wales police minister Michael Costa accused the protesters of setting out deliberately to cause "maximum chaos".

He added that the "illegal demonstration was being conducted in the face of police, government and other concerns about the likely outcomes of those sorts of activities in the city".

The naked demonstrators were charged with offensive behaviour. They smeared themselves in blood-like paint and lay down outside the consulate building in one of Sydney's busiest pedestrian malls, saying they symbolised the victims of US aggression.

Scores of officers protected the building and others, including the headquarters of the Australian Stock Exchange.

Violence broke out after one protester climbed on the roof of a bus. Officers took some demonstrators away after brief skirmishes marred an otherwise peaceful, but noisy, march.

"I want a system in which human needs dictate what we produce and how we distribute it, not human greed," said Jerome Small, a labourer from Melbourne.

Other protesters doubted that the entry of United Nations weapons inspectors into Iraq would prevent an attack by Washington.

International trade ministers and representatives were due to meet later at a hotel at the site where Sydney held the Summer Olympics in 2000.

The talks will examine the state of WTO negotiations aimed at freeing global trade.

A two-mile concrete and steel mesh fence surrounded the hotel. Even so, some protesters have said they would try to storm the venue.

Mr Small said breaking into the meeting would send a powerful message. "For 364 days of the year these people are the masters of the universe. By getting through and saying: 'Today it's not going to be business as usual,' it's fully justified," he said.

But protest organiser Iggy Kim said all demonstrations would be peaceful.

About 1,000 protesters marched through central Sydney yesterday without incident.