>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) > > > > > Prague braced for demos > >PRAGUE BRACED FOR DEMOS Border crossings into the Czech Republic were >jammed yesterday as thousands of anti-globalisation protesters began >streaming into the country. > >http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Distribution/Redirect_Artifact/0,4 >678,0-369075,00.html >The Guardian Online > > >Prague braced for demos > >Borders jammed as thousands arrive for IMF-World Bank annual >conference > >Kate Connolly in Prague Saturday September 16, 2000 > >Border crossings into the Czech Republic were jammed yesterday as >thousands of anti-globalisation protesters began streaming into the >country for next week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank >annual meeting. > >Motorists on the Austrian, German, Polish and Slovak borders were >delayed for up to eight hours as the police carried checked almost >every vehicle for weapons, ammunition and explosives, fearing that they >would be used in riots during the September 19 to 28 summit. > >Long delays were also reported at Prague airport and on the railways. > >The police and pressure groups reported that scores of people had been >turned back at the border, mostly to Germany. > >On the outskirts of Prague, protesters linked to the umbrella group >Initiative Against Economic Globalisation said they had set up a camp >at a farm 37 miles outside the city, but refused to reveal the exact >location. > >In the next few days 25 activists will be trained in demonstration >management, first aid, tree climbing and samba dancing. > >As the biggest security operation in the Czech Republic's history got >under way, the police stressed that their main aim was not to crush the >demonstrations or the scheduled "counter summit". > >"Our prime concern is to ensure the smooth-running of the conference >from start to finish," the police president, Jiri Kolar, said. > >He said that after close cooperation with officers from the FBI and >Scotland Yard, the Czech police had lists of "several hundred people >whose entry into the Czech Republic is undesirable at the time of >the meeting", including protesters who took part in the May Day riots >in London. > >About 23,000 delegates and 15,000 to 25,000 protesters are expected to >attend the meeting. > >There have been 5,000 bookings over the internet for a "tent city" set >up in a former communist concrete monolith, the Strahov stadium. > >This the first such event to be held in a country of the former Soviet >bloc, and the authorities are nervous. > >Eleven thousand police officers - more than a quarter of the country's >entire force - backed-up by 1,600 soldiers will be present in Prague. >About 100 independent observers will monitor the actions of the police. > >"We've never had to deal with anything like this before," the police >spokeswoman, Ivana Zelenakova, said. > >"The water cannons have not been used since the demonstrations in the >run-up to the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989, so we're having to dust them >off." > >Teargas equipment has been borrowed from Germany. > >"The British police persuaded us to use mounted police because they >create a distinct psychological advantage by towering above >protesters," Ms Zelenakova > > > > ............................................. > Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ............................................. > > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
