German police capsize protesters' boats at G8

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 7 (Reuters) Police rammed two inflatable boats that breached a security zone around a Baltic sea resort where world leaders were meeting today, capsizing the rubber dinghies and injuring three activists.

A spokesman for environmental pressure group Greenpeace said the boats had attempted to deliver a message to Group of Eight (G8) leaders gathered in a luxury hotel in Heiligendamm to commit to measurable targets for cuts in greenhouse emissions.

Four protesters ended up in the Baltic waters after a high-speed sea chase by police boats, while police helicopters clattered overhead. The protesters' boats were impounded.

Greenpeace said it had put 11 rubber boats in the waters around Heiligendamm, but none had managed to reach the summit venue.

Several of its activists had been detained by police.

Three protesters and a policeman were injured, police said.

Riot police used water cannon to clear an access road to Heiligendamm that had been blocked by some 200 anti-G8 demonstrators, as thousands more converged for a second day of protests at a high-security fence around the summit complex.

Several protesters were detained after scuffles with police.

Witnesses said at least two demontrators were injured.

The main entrance to Heiligendamm has been blocked for over 24 hours. About 3,000 demonstrators, many of whom spent the night sleeping in front of the security fence, were sitting on the narrow, tree-lined road.

Hundreds more were streaming in from nearby camps, many of them carrying sleeping bags and food supplies.

Police said there had been no major clashes overnight and described the situation around the heavily guarded resort as quiet. Around 16,000 security personnel are in the area.

Germany's constitutional court has banned demonstrations near the 12-km fence that is topped with barbed wire.

Some 160 protesters had been arrested yesterday, when around 10,000 protesters clashed with police and blockaded roads leading to Heiligendamm. Police said 8 officers were injured.

Organisers expect some 70,000 people to attend an anti-G8 concert in the nearby city of Rostock later today.

REUTERS GL RAI1857