Waiting for the G-8 summit to start
Posted: Monday, June 04, 2007 8:57 AM
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Mainz, Germany
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News Producer
The international press is now in place, waiting for the annual summit of G-8 leaders to begin in the next days.
Only a few late arrivals are still standing in line at the press accreditation center in Kuehlungsborn, a small beach resort in eastern Germany that was once under communist rule where the German government built a state of the art press center in the middle of nowhere.
Foreign visitors may have a tough time recognizing that this was once East Germany. Most of the houses have been colorfully remodeled, the streets are well paved, and the stores are filled with western goods.
Despite several small demonstrations – protests calling for better immigration laws, anti-capitalism groups – the city of Rostock, near the summit site, is trying to maintain business as usual.
While people tried to get to work on time, approximately 1,000 protestors marched through the city before lunch time. Police officials expect a similar number of peaceful demonstrators to gather in Rostock's market square later today.
There has been no violence since the riots on Saturday. But, the brutal clashes are still dominating newspaper headlines here today.
Criticizing police tactics
Reporters, observers, and even some officials have criticized how the police handled the demonstrations. Critics say the police acted too late and used the wrong tactics – letting nearly 1,000 black dressed anarchists with concealed faces march to the main demonstration grounds.
Germany has a law that bans "concealment" during demonstrations, so some have argued that the protestors could have been intercepted upon arrival at the train station. On the other hand, police might have been accused of provocation, if they had made arrests too early. A no win situation for authorities.
But, despite some tough questions, it seems that German security forces have things under control.
A total of 16,000 police and special forces are protecting the summit. There are groups of so called "segment protection forces" – police specialists who are monitoring activity in the 25-mile radius around the summit that needs to be protected between the cities of Heiligendamm, Kuehlungsborn and Rostock.
There have been no reports of trouble in the region, but police are still on high alert.
