MELBOURNE - A massive security cordon yesterday closed off the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne as hundreds of police prepared for demonstrations against global business leaders arriving for the World Economic Forum Asian summit, which starts today.
Despite weeks of negotiation and assurances on both sides yesterday that the protests would not erupt into violence, rows of police watched demonstrators set up a first aid tent and reviewed tactics as divers checked the Yarra River.
The summit will be attended by some of the world's wealthiest and most influential business leaders, including Microsoft head Bill Gates, US PricewaterhouseCoopers chief executive James Schiro and Masayoshi Son, chairman of Japan's Softbank Corporation.
Although demonstrators, coordinated over the internet by the S11 alliance, accepted police promises not to use capsicum spray or tear gas, one meeting to discuss protests was warned about the use of horses.
Concern remains, however, that international activists who fomented violence at London's 1998 Carnival Against Capitalism and at World Trade Organisation and World Bank meetings in Seattle and Washington could provoke similar clashes in Melbourne.
Intelligence agencies have tracked the movement of activists around the world. Some are known to have visited Australia to help advise S11.
New Zealand activists have flown to Melbourne and others will stage demonstrations in support of S11 in Auckland and Wellington. Green politicians Sue Bradford and Nandor Tanczos have joined Australian counterparts in supporting a wide alliance against globalisation, ranging from anarchists and socialists to environmentalists and church groups.
Police ready for trouble at Melbourne meeting
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