Demonstrators warm up for mass cross-border anti-G8 rally
May 30, 2003

GENEVA (AFP) - Some 3,000 demonstrators joined a "warm-up" protest outside the United Nations building in Geneva as tens of thousands began gathering for huge anti-G8 rallies set to straddle France and Switzerland.

Activists from Britain, Switzerland and Germany took part in Friday's largely peaceful protest march here under the banner "No Borders", shouting slogans such as "No Border, No Deportation" and "No to the Occupation of Iraq".

"We are here to defend asylum-seekers. Why can money pass through borders but not asylum-seekers," said one British demonstrator, who declined to be named.

According to an Internet site of the anti-G8 movement, the demonstration was organised by 'No Borders', a group campaigning for the free movement of people.

But Friday's demonstration could be just a taste of things to come with tens of thousands of people gathering in Geneva and in the nearby French town of Annemasse to join a huge protest on the opening day of the summit of the world's richest nations in the French town of Evian.

The first anti-G8 demonstration took place late Thursday in the Swiss city of Lausanne, which faces Evian across Lake Geneva and which will host leaders of 11 developing countries from Saturday, attending on the sidelines of the G8.

The Lausanne rally was largely peacefully and in a party-like atmosphere, with just a small group dressed in black among the some 5,000 participants having tried to provoke police by throwing cans.

A huge security operation has been put into place in a bid to minimise the violence which has marred other international summits. Two years ago in Genoa a young activist was killed when demonstrations at the G8 summit there degenerated into clashes with police.

Barricades, barbed wire, boarded-up shop windows and a heavy police and military presence shut down this corner of Switzerland for a long weekend.

Many banks, shops and businesses in Geneva's chic downtown have been boarded up for several days as a precaution and many intend to remain closed until early next week.

Germany has sent 900 police to help out their Swiss colleagues by standing guard over Geneva's airport, where most of the heads of state are due to arrive over the weekend.

The area where the United Nations and international organisations such as the WTO are situated will be off-limits Sunday when an estimated 50,000-100,000 people are expected to take part in the dual protests.

Swiss French-language newspapers expressed relief Friday at the peaceful nature of the first rally, with Le Matin newspaper calling it a "victory against hysteria" which has taken agrip of Geneva.

"It's a victory against the small idiots who believe you can resolve things by smashing everything up," said Aristides Pedreza, one of the anti-G8 organisers from the Vaud region where Lausanne is located.

The demonstrators are staying in "alternative" villages and will be marching simultaneously on either side of the French-Swiss border and meeting up at a border-crossing.

The initial estimates had spoken of about 300,000 people, but have gradually been adjusted downwards in recent weeks.

"The trade unions, who normally contribute, will be less present than planned," said Bernard Pinaud, of the non-governmental organisation, the Centre of Research and Information for Development.

Sunday's action is expected to begin with symbolic blockades of bridges in Geneva and across roads in Annemasse to try to hold up delegates headed for Evian.

"The social struggles underway are the outcome of the application of liberal directives advocated by the G8 in the areas of public services or education," Sophie Zafari, of the French FSU trade union.

About 200 protestors on bicycles meanwhile Friday blocked a roundabout in front of the Swiss-based headquarters at Vevey of food giant Nestle to demonstrate against the meeting of leaders of the world's eight leading industrialised nations.