Quiet after violent protests
BADEN-BADEN, Germany: Police in France and Germany encountered small, scattered and peaceful protests on Friday in a marked change from the violent clashes that marred the eve of NATO's 60th-anniversary summit.
The scene on the German side of the Rhine River in Kehl and Baden-Baden, where President Barack Obama and Angela Merkel were meeting, was far calmer than the previous night's scene in Strasbourg, France.
There, police detained at least 300 people and forced demonstrators back into a tent camp on the edge of the city. Demonstrators destroyed telephone booths and attempted to build barricades before they were stopped, said a police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity according to French practice.
A total of 107 were still being held. Suspects can be held up to 48 hours before being formally charged.
In Baden-Baden, about 300 people - mostly young adults - walked quietly and slowly from the main train station to the city's center, flanked on both sides by a massive phalanx of police, some in riot gear with thick pads, protective vests and helmets and batons. Police helicopters flew overhead.
In Kehl, about 50 km away, traffic was halted just after 12 pm across the Europe Bridge linking France and Germany. Scores of police patrolled the area. A protest that had been scheduled there appeared to fizzle out because so few people attended.
A group of 10 people unfurled a banner calling for "Peace" as police looked on. Near the bridge, one protester was surrounded by seven policemen searching his bag.
German authorities had estimated that up to 25,000 protesters would take part in several demonstrations in Baden-Baden and Kehl, while France's interior minister suggested 30,000 to 40,000 ultimately could show up in Strasbourg, where the camp was set up to house demonstrators.
It was not immediately clear why the numbers, so far, had been so small.
AP
(China Daily 04/04/2009 page11)
