Police chase protesters on boats near G8 summit

Heiligendamm (Germany), June 7: Police intercepted three speed boats that breached a coastal security zone around a Baltic sea resort where world leaders were meeting today, ramming one of the rubber dinghies after a high-speed chase.

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 the chase. A banner saying ''G8 act now'' had been displayed on one of the boats.

Nearby, thousands of anti-capitalist protesters converged for a second day on a high-security fence surrounding the summit complex.

They left make-shift camps where they had spent the night to march across open fields toward the fence.

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 some 10,000 protesters clashed with police and blockaded roads leading to Heiligendamm. Police used water cannon to clear roa blocks and said 8 officers had been injured in the clashes.

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

REUTERS

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