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French police detain 300 in anti-NATO protests

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-03 17:47

STRASBOURG, France -- French police detained at least 300 demonstrators after riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to quell violent clashes ahead of a two-day summit marking NATO's 60th anniversary.

Demonstrators set up a barricade at the entrance of Strasbourg, eastern France, Thursday April 2, 2009. [Agencies]

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on the eastern French city of Strasbourg and two southwestern German towns to protest the cross-border NATO summit.

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Twenty-eight world leaders are attending the two-day summit, including 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 neighbors for the meeting.

A total of 107 people were still being held Friday morning, after riot police forced hundreds of demonstrators off the streets of Strasbourg late Thursday night and back into a tent camp on the edge of the city. They can be held up to 48 hours before being formally charged.

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.

Strasbourg was calm Friday morning, but the 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.

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 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.

The main demonstration begins Friday at noon in Kehl, where the activists plan to march across the Rhine river into Strasbourg. Another protest is planned for Saturday.