Copenhagen police brace for more street clashes

COPENHAGEN, March 2 (Reuters) Danish police said they expected more unrest in Copenhagen today after the eviction of left-wing squatters from a youth centre led to violent street clashes.

Today, 217 people were taken into custody when police raided the youth centre in the multi-ethnic, working class Norrebro neighbourhood.

Clashes flared throughout the day in Norrebro and later spread towards the city's hippie enclave of Christiania.

Demonstrators threw cobblestones and bottles at police and set fire to cars and makeshift barricades. Officers in riot gear chased protesters through the streets and police vans smashed through barricades, and also responded with tear gas.

''We expect demonstrations but we don't know if they will be peaceful. We have a lot of police officers on the streets, and have asked for reinforcements from other police districts in Denmark,'' Flemming Steen Munch, spokesman for Copenhagen police, said today.

Munch said two police officers were lightly injured and two activists were also hurt -- one German citizen and a protester who blew off his hand trying to hurl firecrackers at police.

Minister of justice Lena Espersen urged the youngsters and their supporters to come to their senses and praised the police achievement yesterday. ''The police's work meant that luckily very few people were hurt,'' she said in a statement The conflict over the youth centre has been simmering since 2000 when the local government sold the building to a religious group, which has a court order to have squatters evicted.

The youths have sworn to protect the house and have repeatedly called for a political solution while rejecting a proposal to move to another building.

''The plan for the day following the eviction is to allow people to get some rest,'' said Jan, a spokesman for the youth centre.

''However, we can't rule out that people might get involved in spontaneous demonstrations ... nor that we will tell people to participate.'' He said activists planned to disrupt traffic tomorrow, with ''pin-point actions creating short breakdowns and disruptions. For example having a dinner party in the street''.

''The struggle will continue for a long time. As long as there is no Youth House in Copenhagen, there will be a fight to get one.'' REUTERS SP ND1722