Strasbourg under siege

Strasbourg: Thousands of protesters clashed with police hours before the leaders of the Nato member states crossed a 250-metre long bridge from Germany to France in a largely symbolic walk on the second day of their summit.

Later, black-clad protesters attacked police and set a hotel and a customs station ablaze yesterday near the bridge that served hours earlier as the backdrop for a show of unity.

Photographers saw other protesters storm a nearby Ibis hotel, setting fires and pilfering alcohol from its bar. A reporter saw intermittent scuffles between police and demonstrators as they gradually made their way back from the Europe Bridge and tried to enter the city centre.

Around 2 pm, the protesters - throwing rocks - tried to storm a massive police blockade at the Pont d'Anvers bridge, and were driven back by water cannon, tear gas, flash bombs and rubber bullets. Across the canal, nearly 1,000 people gathered to watch the fracas.

Some of the protesters were hurt, but none of the injuries appeared to be serious.

Elsewhere, stacks of old tyres were also set ablaze, unleashing thick plumes of black smoke that could be seen from across the river. Near the bonfire was a sign welcoming visitors to Strasbourg.

The security situation in Strasbourg was so stressful that a scheduled visit by the spouses of the Nato member states leaders to a cancer centre was cancelled, as clashes between demonstrators and police reached dangerous levels.

Several protesters have tried to reach the areas on the itinerary of the wives of the Nato leaders and Joachim Sauer, the husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Thousands of demonstrators, an explosive mixture of anarchists, anti-capitalists and pacifists, had pledged to disrupt Nato's 60th anniversary summit jointly hosted by borderline cities of Strasbourg in France and Kehl and Baden-Baden in Germany.

Police officers said the visit was cancelled for "timing reasons."

Some of the protesters say they want an end to war and call Nato a tool of Western imperialism.

The protesters, belonging to the Block Nato Movement, first tried to reach the centre of Strasbourg at around 3 am, but could not walk past the formidable cordons set up by the police and anti-riot forces around several blocks.

The pre-dawn protest was part of a day-long series of rallies and demonstrations by thousands of activists to prevent Nato from celebrating its 60th anniversary and to press for the disbandment of the alliance.

Lifting their hands and shouting "We are peaceful. What are you?", around 500 protesters at 8.30 am walked menacingly towards the police before they were dispersed under the onslaught of the tear gas.

The protesters, having set up anti-Nato assembly point areas in the northern and southern outskirts, have vowed to disrupt the meeting in Strasbourg, a city under siege with thousands of police forces, in Robocop wear, circling all the areas where the Nato leaders and their spouses were scheduled to meet or appear.

Nato leaders, meanwhile, went ahead with their schedules.
- With inputs from agencies