Thousands protest Bush visit to Denmark
Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy in Copenhagen today to protest a visit by President George Bush amid one of the biggest security operations Denmark has ever seen.
The rally kicked off as Bush left Denmark after a 17-hour visit and headed to a G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Organisers expected some 20,000 people to join the anti-Bush demonstration outside the embassy. There were no immediate reports of violence.
“The main issue is Bush’s foreign policy,” said Lars Moeller, a 44-year-old janitor. “The Iraq war ... is an illegal war they way I see it and Denmark is part of it.”
Denmark’s centre-right government is a staunch supporter of the Bush administration and has committed troops to US-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nine demonstrators were wearing orange jump suits and ankle chains to protest the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Protests began yesterday, hours before Bush arrived on his fourth trip to Europe this year.
In the capital, some 200 protesters, mostly black-clad youths, marched to the US Embassy, shouting “Death to Bush, death to imperialism”.
Surrounded by an even higher number of police officers, the protesters burned Danish and American flags as they marched in pouring rain.
Two people were arrested, but there was no violence, said police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch.
More than 2,000 police officers have been deployed to block off streets and keep an eye on demonstrators in one of the biggest security operations the Scandinavian country has ever seen.
Police sealed manholes and set up barbed wire around Marienborg, the Danish prime minister’s official summer residence, located north of Copenhagen, where he hosted Bush this morning.
The visit was seen as a nod to the Danish government, which is a staunch US supporter and has about 500 troops in Iraq.
