UPI April 10, 2007

BERLIN, April 10 (UPI) — Police in Germany are preparing for more than 100,000 demonstrators intent on disrupting the June G8 summit in the Baltic seaside town of Heiligendamm.

Authorities told The Times of London that demonstrators are planning “a warming-up exercise” on May Day in Berlin and have flexed their muscles in street protests in Copenhagen and in Berlin riots.

A group of cells across Germany have called for a month of violence issuing pamphlets saying “Destroy the image of your town” and “Riot against G8,” The Times reported.

“We have never before seen such a militant campaign of the extreme Left in northern Germany,” Claudia Schmid, head of the Berlin wing of the Agency for the Protection of the Constitution, told The Times.

About 16,000 police officers plus soldiers will be assigned to the summit, the newspaper said. Also, two U.S. Navy ships will be stationed off the coast and armed guards will escort 6,000 journalists in and out of the area on a steam train.

Published: April 10, 2007 at 9:03 AM