Police fire in air as Macau workers protest

HONG KONG, May 1 (Reuters) Police in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau fired into the air today as they struggled to disperse May Day crowds demanding labour rights and an end to corruption.

''There were three or four gunshots. Police fired towards the sky, there was smoke,'' said a Reuters photographer. ''At the time the protesters were running towards the police.'' No one was hurt in the shooting.

Government-funded Radio Television Hong Kong said on its Web site Macau police had confirmed that they had fired a few shots into the sky.

RTHK said police had detained at least three protesters.

The protesters carried banners and placards calling for better labour protection and an end to corruption. Some also demanded the resignation of Chief Executive Edmund Ho, Macau's Beijing-appointed leader.

Dozens of armed police, some equipped with pepper spray, lined the route of the march.

Ho said late yesterday the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region was seriously concerned with workers' complaints and he vowed to strengthen labour-related policies.

Ho said the government would speed up the process of revising labour legislation and would combat the influx of illegal workers into the enclave. Harmony was the key to Macau's substainable development, he added.

REUTERS KD KN1547