Violence at G8 summit protest

Protesters clashed with riot police today as tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the German city of Rostock to protest the upcoming Group of Eight summit.

Riot police were deployed after a group of protesters attacked police cars with rocks, bottles and paint bombs, authorities said, adding that a hotel where a US delegation is supposed to stay during the G8 summit was also attacked.

Rocks and broken beer bottles lay on the ground in front of a bank building where protesters smashed windows.

Most stores along the route had boarded up their windows before the protests - with the exception of sausage stands and other fast food restaurants.

Around 13,000 police were on hand, and authorities said about 30,000 protesters had come for the day-long demonstration under the motto “another world is possible”.

Police helicopters hovered overhead as thousands of demonstrators marched behind a truck blowing out soap bubbles and carrying a rock band that played anti-globalisation songs like 'Block G8'.

Police officers videotaped the demonstration.

Some protesters covered their heads and faces with black hoods, sunglasses and scarves, while others chanted protest slogans through megaphones, blowing whistles and waving flags.

Dozens of different groups, including communists, anarchists and environmentalists, were taking part and messages were mixed: Some urged action from the G8 countries in the fight against HIV/Aids, African poverty and climate change, while others questioned the legitimacy of the existence of the G8 itself.

“The world shaped by the dominance of the G8 is a world of war, hunger, social divisions, environmental destruction and barriers against migrants and refugees,” organisers said in leaflets handed out on the streets. “We want to protest against this and show the alternatives.”

The protest comes before the three-day summit which starts on Wednesday in the nearby northern resort town of Heiligendamm, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the leaders of the other G8 nations – Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada and the US.

In the morning, protesters gathered at two meeting points in town, to march along two different three-mile routes into Rostock and converge in the late afternoon at the harbour for speeches, followed by a concert.

On their website, organisers emphasised they wanted a peaceful protest.

“There is no reason to be afraid to come to the big demonstration in Rostock,” they said. “We will have a very big, very colourful and very strong demonstrations. We do not expect major problems with the police.”

They then added, however: “This may be different with the actions following later in the week of protest.”

After a demonstration by the far-right National Democratic Party in nearby Schwerin was banned this morning, about 40 party members gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and briefly uncovered their party’s flag before police stopped them.

Several right-wing extremist protesters were detained, police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski said.