G8 protesters clash with police

Shoving matches between police and anti-globalisation protesters have broken out in two Canadian cities as initially peaceful demonstrations against the summit of the world’s richest countries turned testy.

No major violence occurred. But incidents like the burning of a US flag outside the US Embassy in Ottawa, the capital, and a brief shoving match between scores of protesters and police at a McDonald’s restaurant in Calgary yesterday underscored tensions surrounding demonstrations against capitalism and policies of the Group of Eight nations.

Protesters were kept far from the summit, being held at a remote Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis 65 miles west of Calgary.

Police said one person was arrested at a checkpoint on the lone paved road to Kananaskis after a bus load of postal union workers delivering a protest letter to summit leaders was stopped.

The arrest was for obstructing a police officer, and the man was being held in Calgary, according to a police statement.

Later yesterday, a caravan of dozens of vehicles drove toward Kananaskis from Calgary seeking to pass through checkpoints in a protest against the lack of access to the summit site.

Some protesters played drums on the roadside during negotiations with police on getting from checkpoint to checkpoint, with the line of cars stretching hundreds of yards along the road.

The Ottawa protest, 2,000 miles east of the summit, ranged from the brazen, when a dozen people danced nude in front of Canada’s parliament, to the bellicose, with some black-clad demonstrators throwing golf balls and paint-filled balloons that damaged street lamps, police cars and a bank window.

Protesters blocked traffic, beat drums and shouted ‘‘Capitalism Kills’’, ‘‘The Enemy is Profit’’ and ‘‘Down with the G8’’.

‘‘It was a great success,’’ said Lisa Freeman of the Anti-Capitalist Community Action. ‘‘People were marching for an end to this capitalist system and these elite G8 leaders who are hiding out in Alberta.’’

One man was arrested when protesters stopped the police from apprehending another man. A police officer was seen bleeding from the nose after the scuffle.

In Calgary, a festival-like morning march by 1,000 people snarled traffic but remained peaceful. Afterward, a smaller group headed into the centre of the city with dozens of police on bicycles keeping a close watch.

Outside a McDonald’s restaurant, the 150 protesters confronted a line of officers who pushed them back, resulting in a brief shoving match. Some protesters shouted ‘‘fascists’’ and ‘‘racists’’ at the police, while others tried to calm the situation.

The group eventually moved on.

Despite the scuffles, most of the protests against the meeting of world industrial powers - Britain, the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia - have been peaceful, with a march on Sunday and demonstrations on Tuesday in Calgary proceeding without any violence or arrests.

Violence at last year’s G8 demonstrations in Genoa, Italy, left one protester dead.

To prevent disruptions this year, summit leaders met in relative seclusion at the mountain retreat. At

the meeting site, tight security included checkpoints stationed every few hundred yards along the only paved road into the resort that were guarded by camouflage-clad soldiers carrying automatic weapons.

In Calgary, police have taken a low-key approach. Access is restricted only in two blocks around a convention centre where national delegations will brief the media.