November 18, 2001	Sunday	Ramazan 2, 1422

OTTAWA, Nov 17: Several groups of anti-globalization protesters took to the streets Saturday in Ottawa, where global finance ministers were meeting, a day after a small group of activists shattered store windows, leading to eight arrests.

Police maintained tight control of the perimeter around the conference centre where top finance officials of the Group of 20, International Monetary Fund and World Bank were meeting.

Three separate rallies were being held Saturday, with a total of about 2,000 people, according to an AFP reporter on site.

Staff Sergeant Leo Janveau of the Ottawa police said there had been eight arrests Friday, leading to four Canadians being charged with “mischief,” following acts of vandalism.

Four other Canadians, said Janveau, had been taken into custody for breach of the peace and were likely to be released on Saturday if they posted bonds.

There were also four “minor injuries” including one unrelated to any demonstrators’ activities, according to Andrew Robert of the Ottawa Emergency Services. None of the injured needed hospital treatment, he said.

An early morning sweep of sensitive sites around the Government Conference Centre, where finance ministers were gathered, found some evidence of plans to make Molotov cocktails.

Sergeant Marc Richer, spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told reporters that a sweep of the grounds outside the Supreme Court of Canada had led to the discovery of “two glass bottles with wicks ... but no signs of petrol, some other glass bottles with peat and a metal rod.”

But officials said the majority of demonstrators were honouring the pledge of organizers to hold peaceful protests.

Refusing to say how many police personnel were involved in the massive security operation, Janveau said “we will assess and re-assess” the situation as the day progressed.

On Friday, police started with a relatively small security perimeter around the conference centre which was later expanded as about 300 demonstrators marched downtown.

Richer, correcting some details that had been released Friday, said there had been one plastic bullet fired and one “blast dispersion” device used that day.

He described the “blast dispersion” as a small package which released “some smoke with a small amount of pepper gas.”

Following the trashing of a McDonald’s restaurant Friday, several businesses boarded up their windows.—AFP