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Fun & Games as G8 looms
EDINBURGH: Up to 1000 anarchists have been blamed for bringing the Scottish capital to a standstill and provoking fierce confrontations with police. The centre of Edinburgh was flooded with hundreds of riot police who fought anti-capitalist protesters repeatedly less than 48 hours before the start of the G8 summit. With more trouble predicted for today's summit opening at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, police said up to 30 protesters had been arrested. Tom Halpin, Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, accused protesters of "reckless and irresponsible behaviour". However, protesters accused police of being heavy-handed after several dozen officers, in full riot gear, drew their retractable truncheons as they ran through Prince's Street Gardens, on the northern side of Edinburgh's main thoroughfare, striking onlookers as well as protesters. A cyclist trying to move out of the way of a skirmish was hit with a baton. Tensions had been rising all day during the unofficial "Festival for Full Enjoyment", a series of marches and blockades across the city involving about 1000 anarchists, clowns, drummers and a troupe with sparkly wings calling themselves the Fairy Army.
A winged member of the Fairy Army said he was there to have fun and to "spread a little magic". But the presence of small groups of masked youths, some waving black flags, betrayed a more sinister element. Hundreds of anarchists mingled among the protesters and by mid-afternoon most of Prince's Street was sealed off by riot police. A handful of officers moved among the crowd photographing people. In Canning Street, in Edinburgh's financial district, police hemmed in about 300 protesters. One scaled a 7m wall and mooned police below. The police response could not have been more different from the low-key presence at Saturday's well-organised and peaceful Make Poverty History march, attended by an estimated 200,000 people. The turning point was a scuffle in Prince's Street Gardens, in which anarchists tore up plants from flower beds and threw them at police. Chuffy Dominguez, 18, from Glasgow, who was dressed as a clown, said: "This is unbelievable. The police are baton-charging people who are here today to party on the streets. It's a deliberate ploy to stigmatise anarchists by flooding the place with riot police and penning us in. It's a sad day." Posted by: Steve 2005-07-05 |
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