200 summit protesters arrested
More than 200 people were arrested tonight following a clash with police around a school housing several organisations gathered to protest at US President George W Bush and his meeting with European leaders in Gothenberg, Sweden, police said.
The arrests were made during a confrontation between more than 1,000 protesters and police who had blockaded the school for several hours, claiming that some of the activists planned violence during demonstrations against President Bush and the EU leaders.
Police refused to allow up to 400 activists to leave the building to take part in an anti-Bush rally earlier tonight. Their supporters approached the building and began pounding on metal containers that the police had placed around it.
Police then pushed back the crowd and arrested more than 200 protesters who resisted, according to police spokesman Jan Strannegoerd. Five policemen were slightly injured, he said.
The clash took place as Mr Bush was dining with leaders of the 15 EU governments at a 19th century building in another part of the city.
The situation remained tense as hundreds of remaining protesters faced a line of helmeted riot police with shields that surrounded the three-storey brick building, reinforced from behind by a row of mounted police.
Police said the arrests included some activists from inside the building but others were still inside.
The arrests occurred at the end of a rally in which an estimated 10,000 people marched through this western Swedish port city to protest at Mr Bush’s environmental and other policies.
