WASHINGTON, Oct 20: An anti-globalization march in the streets of Washington turned violent, with shop windows smashed as crowds protested on the eve of Saturday’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings, reports said.

Banner-waving crowds, protesting what they see as harmful policies of the financial bodies, marched peacefully at first late Friday before a disturbance broke out in the up-market neighborhood of Georgetown.

Police came out in force with riot masks and batons and ordered the crowds to disperse.

City police spokesman Quentin Peterson told AFP one young woman was taken to hospital for an injury after she was hit in the face by a brick. Local television reported that two clothing stores’ windows were smashed.

Marchers headed west to Georgetown’s shopping strip since they could not get close to the IMF and World Bank headquarters in the heart of the city.

Security was tight there as ministers from around the world were to attend the meetings.

The campaign group that organized the protest, October Rebellion, detailed its complaints against the IMF and World Bank on its website, accusing them of harming the poor through their “neoliberal” loan policies.---AFP