BlackRain
06-04-2004, 04:53 PM
Much of Rome sealed off as protesters denounce Bush (pics)
FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer
A small group of stone-throwing demonstrators clashed with police at a march Friday by tens of thousands of people to protest President Bush's visit to the Italian capital, with streets sealed off and guarded by officers in riot gear.
Friday's demonstration was organised by the Communist and Greens, while the mainstream left-wing opposition who also oppose the visit, said they would not take part out of respect for the US soldiers who died in the liberation of Rome.
Tall metal gates and paramilitary jeeps and trucks blocked a main thoroughfare leading to Piazza Venezia, the heart of the capital, as the marchers approached within a few dozen yards of the residence of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch Bush ally during the Iraq war and the current occupation, which includes Italian troops.
http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2004/06/05/mn_italy_protest1.jpg
Photo: Italian police officers in riot gear, left, are seen during clashes with demonstrators, right, in Rome's Piazza Venezia Square
Two police officers were bruised when they were struck with stones and bottles, the Italian news agency Apcom said. Officials at police headquarters could not be immediately reached for details on the clash.
Cobblestone alleys were sealed off to prevent any violent protesters from breaking away from the march and rushing some of the 10,000 police deployed along the route.
Near Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman games field, about 20 demonstrators in black hoods taunted police and threw rocks. The officers set off a couple of tear gas canisters and the demonstrators darted away across the field.
The march route was far from Bush's motorcade.
Protest organizers claimed that 150,000 marchers turned out, while police put the crowd at about 25,000. In the weeks before the war began in 2003, an anti-war march in Rome drew 1 million participants.
Scuffles broke out briefly when police prevented a group of anti-war protesters from entering the off-limits monument housing Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the city's central Piazza Venezia, an AFP reporter said.
"The police won't let us go through because they don't want us to demonstrate," said Fulvio Paolocci, a university student who was turned back by police at barricaded Piazza Venezia.
While most of the march was peaceful, the slogans on many of the banners and placards were stinging. "Heil Bush," began one sign's slogan, which ended in profanity.
Opposition to the Iraq war among Italians is high. Berlusconi contends the 2,900 Italians in the occupation forces are on a humanitarian mission.
Much of central Rome was deserted. Most shops were closed, and for those that there open, there were few customers. Tourists wandered around bewildered by the blocked streets.
Bush was marking the Allied liberation of Rome from its Nazi occupiers 60 years ago. A few hours before the march began, he met with Pope John Paul II, who vigorously opposed the invasion of Iraq. Bush meets Berlusconi on Saturday before heading to France.
"It's difficult to forget that the world would be different if 60 years ago, this great international alliance of forces hadn't formed against Nazism," said Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission and a center-left opposition leader.
But some protesters questioned whether Americans should still be called "liberators."
"Their credit was lost in Vietnam," said Mario Bucci, a 40-year-old waving a rainbow-colored peace flag.
The deployment of police in riot gear and the gate blocking off Piazza Venezia reminded many of Genoa during the 2001 Group of Eight summit, when that city's center was closed off with towering metal gates. Amid tens of thousands of peaceful marchers, a few hundred demonstrators rioted and attacked police. One protester was shot to death.
FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer
A small group of stone-throwing demonstrators clashed with police at a march Friday by tens of thousands of people to protest President Bush's visit to the Italian capital, with streets sealed off and guarded by officers in riot gear.
Friday's demonstration was organised by the Communist and Greens, while the mainstream left-wing opposition who also oppose the visit, said they would not take part out of respect for the US soldiers who died in the liberation of Rome.
Tall metal gates and paramilitary jeeps and trucks blocked a main thoroughfare leading to Piazza Venezia, the heart of the capital, as the marchers approached within a few dozen yards of the residence of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch Bush ally during the Iraq war and the current occupation, which includes Italian troops.
http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2004/06/05/mn_italy_protest1.jpg
Photo: Italian police officers in riot gear, left, are seen during clashes with demonstrators, right, in Rome's Piazza Venezia Square
Two police officers were bruised when they were struck with stones and bottles, the Italian news agency Apcom said. Officials at police headquarters could not be immediately reached for details on the clash.
Cobblestone alleys were sealed off to prevent any violent protesters from breaking away from the march and rushing some of the 10,000 police deployed along the route.
Near Circus Maximus, the ancient Roman games field, about 20 demonstrators in black hoods taunted police and threw rocks. The officers set off a couple of tear gas canisters and the demonstrators darted away across the field.
The march route was far from Bush's motorcade.
Protest organizers claimed that 150,000 marchers turned out, while police put the crowd at about 25,000. In the weeks before the war began in 2003, an anti-war march in Rome drew 1 million participants.
Scuffles broke out briefly when police prevented a group of anti-war protesters from entering the off-limits monument housing Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the city's central Piazza Venezia, an AFP reporter said.
"The police won't let us go through because they don't want us to demonstrate," said Fulvio Paolocci, a university student who was turned back by police at barricaded Piazza Venezia.
While most of the march was peaceful, the slogans on many of the banners and placards were stinging. "Heil Bush," began one sign's slogan, which ended in profanity.
Opposition to the Iraq war among Italians is high. Berlusconi contends the 2,900 Italians in the occupation forces are on a humanitarian mission.
Much of central Rome was deserted. Most shops were closed, and for those that there open, there were few customers. Tourists wandered around bewildered by the blocked streets.
Bush was marking the Allied liberation of Rome from its Nazi occupiers 60 years ago. A few hours before the march began, he met with Pope John Paul II, who vigorously opposed the invasion of Iraq. Bush meets Berlusconi on Saturday before heading to France.
"It's difficult to forget that the world would be different if 60 years ago, this great international alliance of forces hadn't formed against Nazism," said Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission and a center-left opposition leader.
But some protesters questioned whether Americans should still be called "liberators."
"Their credit was lost in Vietnam," said Mario Bucci, a 40-year-old waving a rainbow-colored peace flag.
The deployment of police in riot gear and the gate blocking off Piazza Venezia reminded many of Genoa during the 2001 Group of Eight summit, when that city's center was closed off with towering metal gates. Amid tens of thousands of peaceful marchers, a few hundred demonstrators rioted and attacked police. One protester was shot to death.