300 HELD AFTER ANTI-NATO PROTESTS: Demonstrators set up a barricade in Strasbourg

Friday April 3,2009

The Daily Express

French police detained at least 300 anti-Nato demonstrators after violent clashes ahead of a two-day summit to mark the alliance's 65th anniversary.

A total of 107 people were still being held after riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to force hundreds of demonstrators off the streets of Strasbourg on Thursday night and back into a tent camp on the edge of the city.

Under French law they can be held for up to 48 hours before being formally charged.

Demonstrators destroyed telephone booths and attempted to build barricades before they were stopped, according to police.

Strasbourg was calm on Friday morning, but the streets were virtually deserted as unauthorised traffic is forbidden in many parts of the city.

Schools and the university were closed, and most businesses and restaurants shut for the duration of the summit.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on Strasbourg and two south-western German towns to protest the cross-border Nato summit.

Twenty-eight world leaders will attend, including US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In a bid to prevent violence, France has temporarily reinstated border controls with its immediate neighbours for the meeting.

German authorities estimate that up to 25,000 protesters will take part in several demonstrations in the German cities of Baden-Baden and Kehl, while France's interior minister has suggested 30,000 to 40,000 ultimately could arrive in Strasbourg, where a camp has been set up.

Protesters clash with police before NATO summit

2009-04-03 04:49:12  

    STRASBOURG, April 2 (Xinhua) --

Police fired tear gas to protesters here on Thursday, one day before a NATO summit opens on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the military alliance.

    Protestors with masks broke several bus shelters, set fire to dustbins and set up a street barricade in Neuhoff, a south suburb of Strasbourg, after marching from a "peace camp" set up by activists on the outskirts of the city.

    The crowd, around 600-900, was dispersed and calm returned in the neighborhood of Neuhoff after the tear gas, according to French police.

    A protest group called "Anti-Repression" said on its website that police made many arrests.

    Thousands of protesters converged to Strasbourg and nearby German towns to protest against the NATO summit.

    Police put the figure of protesters on both sides of the Rhine River at 25,000 to 40,000.

    Coming from across Europe, the protesters will participate in several demonstrations, including anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-globalization, to name a few.

    Police from both countries expect 2,000 to 3,000 people in black clothes to tend to be violent.

    The demonstrators are allowed to stay in Strasbourg's Old Town "orange zone" under tight security. A camp was set up to shelter them.

    To safeguard the summit, around 15,000 German police, including31 riot squads, and 9,000 French police have been deployed in the cities hosting the summit.

    France has temporarily resumed border controls with neighboring countries during the summit.

    The demonstrators will lodge a protest on Thursday evening in Baden-Baden and and hold a main protest on in Kehl, both are German towns, before marching across the Rhine river into Strasbourg.

    Hosted for the first time by two nations, the summit will open on Friday to discuss Afghanistan, NATO-Russian relations, among other things.

    Leaders of Albania and Croatia will participate in the meeting as full members of the Alliance as they fulfilled accession procedures on April 1.

    Participants will begin with a working dinner in the premises of the Baden-Baden Kurhaus.

    Following an official welcome by the leaders of the host nations and the Secretary General of NATO, the participants will have an exchange of views on NATO's future roles and missions.

    During the evening session, Allies are also planning to discuss long-term relations with Russia.

    The second day of the summit will begin with a ceremony at the Rhine River, honoring NATO peacekeepers.

    Their working session will be held in Strasbourg, focusing on discussion of the ongoing operational commitments of NATO, in particular its engagement in Afghanistan. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Quiet after violent NATO protests in Strasbourg

AP – Thursday April 2, 2009. … By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer

KEHL, Germany –

Police in France and Germany girded Friday to protect NATO's 60th anniversary summit from a string of planned demonstrations that began with violent clashes quelled by tear gas, rubber bullets and the detention of hundreds of protesters.

The scene on the German side of the Rhine River was calm compared to the previous night in Strasbourg, where French police detained at least 300 people and forced demonstrators back into a tent camp on the edge of the city. Demonstrators destroyed telephone booths and attempted to build barricades before they were stopped, said a police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity according to French practice.

A total of 107 were still being held. Suspects can be held up to 48 hours before being formally charged.

In Kehl, traffic continued to move across the Europe Bridge that links France to Germany ahead of its closing and scores of police patrolled the area where a protest had been scheduled to begin at noon (1000 GMT). France has temporarily reinstated border controls with its immediate neighbors for the meeting.

A group of 10 people unfurled a banner calling for "Peace" as police looked on. Near the bridge, one protester was surrounded by seven police who were searching his bag.

Police in patrol boats zipped up and down the Rhine while helicopters hovered overhead. Many police vans and units from across Germany were also on the scene. Elsewhere, police were playing cards and sitting in their police vans reading newspapers.

Strasbourg's streets were virtually deserted as unauthorized traffic was forbidden in many parts of the city. Schools and the university were closed. Most businesses and restaurants have shut down for the duration of the summit.

Christoph Kleine, a spokesman for the protest network Block NATO, told The Associated press that some 3,000 protesters were encamped in Neuhof just south of Strasbourg and they planned to stage a demonstration Saturday in the city center.

"We do not want any clashes with police... We will go around them, we will go through them," he said. "We will not attack them. But we will make our way."

German authorities estimate that up to 25,000 protesters will take part in several demonstrations in Baden-Baden and Kehl, while France's interior minister has suggested 30,000 to 40,000 ultimately could show up in Strasbourg, where a camp has been set up to house demonstrators.

German and French police have said 2,000 to 3,000 members of the violence-prone "black bloc" — so-called for the black clothes and hoods they wear — are expected.

Some 15,000 German police — including 31 riot squads — and 9,000 French police are on call for the summit.

Protest organizers have called for peaceful demonstrations to highlight their complaints, including anti-war, anti-globalization, anti-capitalist and disarmament platforms.

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Associated Press Writers Scott Sayare and Laurent Pirot in Strasbourg, France contributed to this report.