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Posted on 11/16/2001 5:22:24 PM PST by Clive

A small group of protesters in Ottawa spray-painted a building, smashed windows at a downtown McDonald's and faced off against police Friday, as demonstrations against the Group of 20 meeting got underway.

Police in riot gear made several arrests, but said only a small handful of people were causing trouble. Despite the arrests, the protest has gotten off to a slow start. Police initially expected between 2,000 and 4,000 protesters, but only about 325 have showed up so far.

Many of the mostly university-aged protesters marched into the nation's capital Friday afternoon, waving signs, chanting and speaking out against the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G20 international finance ministers.

"We're taking to the streets today," activist Jaggi Singh shouted to protesters on the street. He said that "people in India, people elsewhere, people in the south are at the forefront of the struggle against global capitalists."

The Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and Ottawa police have banded together to monitor the area all weekend.

They blocked major downtown streets to traffic Thursday evening.

Earlier, the protesters had crashed through a police barricade near the National War Memorial on Elgin Street and moved inside a police perimeter before they withdrew.

"I didn't do anything," screamed one protester as he was handcuffed and shoved in a police vehicle. "I didn't do anything!"

Two lines of police with dogs and shields later herded demonstrators west from the conference site, sealing off the city's core as they went.

The crowd pushed over some newspaper boxes and dragged them into the street and at one point surrounded a police tactical van.

The demonstrations are expected to climax on Saturday when various union members plan to arrive for a larger march.

Although police would not reveal how many officers will be on duty during the protest or what equipment they will have, they have told demonstrators that the kind of violence that marked last year's IMF and World Bank meetings in Prague and Washington will not be tolerated.

"We're ready...ready for anything and to take proper action," Constable Carole Pirnhe of the Ontario Provincial Police told globeandmail.com. "We will take measured responses depending on the demonstrators' actions."

Earlier this week, police warned shopkeepers to be prepared for tear gas and crowds but said it will be safe enough for stores to stay open during the meetings.

Despite this warning, police have not set up the type of perimeter fence that protesters faced in April's Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

At an Ottawa press conference Friday morning, representatives of organizations from five countries attacked the policies of both the IMF and the World Bank.

"Freer trade, higher interest rates and wage-suppressing measures that the World Bank has been promoting has killed local industries, killed local farms, has gutted the productive capacity of countries around the world," said Steve Hellinger of the U.S. organization, Development Gap. "It has meant therefore that thousands upon thousands of people have been laid off from their jobs."

The G-20 represents a mix of big and small countries that together make up 88 per cent of the world's economic output and includes 60 per cent of the world's poor.

Members range from the United States and United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil and the European Union.

By early evening the number of protesters had thinned and those left were concentrated at the downtown University of Ottawa.

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