Protests smothered as leaders arrive for G8 summit in Japan

London Guardian
Sunday, July 6, 2008

George Bush and the Japanese prime minister have used the beginning of the G8 summit to insist they will both attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Hundreds of protesters have rallied under heavy police security in Japan as leaders from the top industrialised nations arrived for the annual talks. A morning protest ended peacefully, but one person was detailed during another rally held later.

The rallies followed a demonstration by about 2,500 yesterday that lead to a brief clash with police in which four people — including a television cameraman — were detained. The protesters are demanding the Group of Eight industrialised nations be dissolved and urgent measures to solve climate change and world hunger. “Down with imperialism,” said one large red banner carried at the front of the morning march.

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A member of a rightist group was detained as he rushed toward 200 leftists marching in the afternoon rally, which otherwise ended without incident.

Protesters have not been able to get anywhere near the G8 summit venue, but have scheduled daily rallies in Sapporo, the largest city on the northern Japan island of Hokkaido. They are often outnumbered by riot police deployed to control them.

Japan has mobilised 20,000 police— primarily in and around the summit site but also in major cities including Tokyo — to guard against terrorist attacks. Coast guard vessels, military helicopters and fighter jets are being used.

Last year, tens of thousands of anti-globalisation protesters demonstrated when the summit was held in Germany and some threw Molotov cocktails at police, who used water cannon and horses to drive them back.

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