Thousands protest G7 summit in southern Germany
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN - Thousands of people protested Saturday in the German Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen ahead of the arrival of the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies for a two-day summit.
The crowds demanded action on a grab-bag of issues including climate change, poverty and globalization.
Police spokesman Hans-Peter Kammerer said the protests have so far been peaceful but that significant numbers of extremists from Germany, Austria, Italy and Britain were thought to be joining the expected crowd of some 8,000. More than 22,000 police were on hand.
Protesters' spokesman Simon Ernst said they wanted to show their anger at the leaders of Germany, France, the US, Italy, Britain, Canada and Japan, calling them "the henchmen of bankers and corporations."
