Frankfurt braces for antiglobalization protests

By HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press

FRANKFURT, Germany
(July 31, 2001 05:13 p.m. EDT ) - Smarting from bloody street riots at the Group of Eight summit in Genoa, Italy, antiglobalization protesters moved their "Summer of Resistance" to Germany.

About 1,000 people are camped out near Frankfurt's international airport for weeklong demonstrations against the forced deportations of illegal immigrants and a battery of other causes.

They claim the protests are peaceful, and have posted detailed plans for demonstrations. But an ominous flier tacked up nearby invites demonstrators to learn the ins and outs of making Molotov cocktails.

"We're not here to throw stones," a protest organizer said. "But we are very heterogeneous group. It's speculation how things will unfold."

Another spokesman for the movement played down the Molotov cocktail flier, saying the group had no control over what individuals posted.

But after a peaceful start over the weekend, the Frankfurt round turned bloody Tuesday when a masked protester was cracked on the head in a subway station as police tried to rein in a throng of demonstrators rushing to catch a train back to the camp.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators burst through the doors of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to protest the amount of payments to Nazi-era laborers. And later, they did the same at local offices of the ruling Social Democratic Party, protesting Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's failure to condemn reports of police brutality in Genoa.

The traveling protesters have pitched a sprawling tent city on the banks of the Main River outside the city, complete with computer station, media center, book stand, portable toilets and canteen - but no showers.

That is the base camp for an annual demonstration staged by the group No One is Illegal, which supports open borders, eased immigration laws and an immediate halt to deportations of illegal aliens.

Attendance is up this year because of outrage stoked by the killing of a protester in Genoa by Italian police, an organizer said.

"In general, it was a turning point," she said, giving her name as Rosa Kemper, a pseudonym taken from the name of the early 20th-century socialist Rosa Luxemburg. Like other organizers, she would only give her name as Rosa Kemper - saying she acted out of solidarity and for fear of drawing police attention. Male organizers give their name as Karl Kemper.

Only a minority of the protesters at No One is Illegal was at Genoa, but that hasn't dulled their solidarity with those street fighters. Sheltered under a giant circus tent, campers held a workshop Monday to discuss the Genoa protests and what it has meant for the European protest movement.

This summer's protests have stretched from Sweden to Italy - and have left a trail of injuries. Genoa drew 100,000 protesters seeking to champion a host of causes ranging from the environment to debt relief for poor countries. More than 300 people have been injured so far in the summer's mayhem.

More confrontations could erupt in Frankfurt during spot protests Wednesday and on Saturday, when demonstrators march on the deportation center where illegal aliens and rejected asylum-seekers are held at Frankfurt's international airport, the busiest on the continent.

Still, most activists said they hoped their protests would not devolve into pitched battles.

Deportation by commercial airlines grabbed headlines in Europe following the deaths of several immigrants, including a Sudanese passenger in 1999 on a Lufthansa flight.

According to a German news report, an expert concluded that the man suffocated because of the force with which German police officers pinned him in his seat during takeoff.

Previously, the death was blamed on a special helmet meant to cushion his head from thrashing and to prevent him from biting officials.

Lufthansa is contracted to take home nearly 10,000 rejected asylum-seekers a year, but says it has since strengthened its policy of turning down illegals who are bound, helmeted or resisting deportation.

News Copyright © 2001 Interest!ALERT

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