- News>
- World
Police scour G8 city for arms as protests begin
Italian police swept Genoa for arms and raided anarchist homes Tuesday as three new bomb scares heightened security fears in the Italian city three days before a Group of Eight summit, legal sources said.
Italian police swept Genoa for arms and raided anarchist homes Tuesday as three new bomb scares heightened security fears in the Italian city three days before a Group of Eight summit, legal sources said.
Police backed up by the secretive DIGOS security branch also carried out searches in Naples, Florence and the northern city of Padua, widening their investigation into a bomb blast at a police station in Genoa that injured a policeman Monday.
The searches were part of a massive clampdown ahead of the summit of powerful world leaders, expected to attract over 100,000 anti-globalization protesters, but they have not so far discovered any sophisticated arms, the sources said.
Greenpeace activists got the protest ball rolling during the day by boarding an oil tanker in a port some 28 miles up the coast from Genoa, to demonstrate against the U.S. government's rejection of the Kyoto protocol on climate change.
"We are here to ask the G8 leaders meeting in Genoa in the next few days to respect the Kyoto agreement," said a Greenpeace member who identified himself only as Daniel.
On the nearby Franco-Italian border, security was significantly beefed up, with police searching for potential troublemakers on buses arriving from Spain. Italian police used special search powers and targeted groups such as the "Insurrectional Anarchists" -- an Italian, Spanish and Greek movement which is among those vowing to puncture a 1.5 square mile security zone around the summit which starts Friday, sources said.
A small bomb hidden in a woman's purse exploded in a policeman's hands at a Genoa police station Monday, injuring his arms, face and chest, but there were conflicting reports on whether the incident was directly linked to the G8 summit.
The 20-year-old policeman was recovering in Genoa's main San Martino hospital from an operation to save an eye and a spokeswoman said doctors were "optimistic."
Bureau Report
Police backed up by the secretive DIGOS security branch also carried out searches in Naples, Florence and the northern city of Padua, widening their investigation into a bomb blast at a police station in Genoa that injured a policeman Monday.
The searches were part of a massive clampdown ahead of the summit of powerful world leaders, expected to attract over 100,000 anti-globalization protesters, but they have not so far discovered any sophisticated arms, the sources said.
Greenpeace activists got the protest ball rolling during the day by boarding an oil tanker in a port some 28 miles up the coast from Genoa, to demonstrate against the U.S. government's rejection of the Kyoto protocol on climate change.
"We are here to ask the G8 leaders meeting in Genoa in the next few days to respect the Kyoto agreement," said a Greenpeace member who identified himself only as Daniel.
On the nearby Franco-Italian border, security was significantly beefed up, with police searching for potential troublemakers on buses arriving from Spain. Italian police used special search powers and targeted groups such as the "Insurrectional Anarchists" -- an Italian, Spanish and Greek movement which is among those vowing to puncture a 1.5 square mile security zone around the summit which starts Friday, sources said.
A small bomb hidden in a woman's purse exploded in a policeman's hands at a Genoa police station Monday, injuring his arms, face and chest, but there were conflicting reports on whether the incident was directly linked to the G8 summit.
The 20-year-old policeman was recovering in Genoa's main San Martino hospital from an operation to save an eye and a spokeswoman said doctors were "optimistic."
Bureau Report