German organisers condemn violence at anti-G8 demos

By Tom Armitage

ROSTOCK, Germany (Reuters) - Organisers of anti-G8 demonstrations and the media on Sunday condemned violent clashes between police and a hardcore group of militants in the German port city of Rostock in which 1,000 people were injured.

A peaceful demonstration involving tens of thousands of diverse protesters was marred on Saturday by the worst street violence seen in Germany for years when hundreds of black-clad activists bombarded police with stones and torched three cars.

Police used water cannon to disperse the militants who left a trail of destruction in the harbour city, just days before Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts the Group of Eight (G8) leaders in the nearby resort of Heiligendamm for their annual meeting.

"This was inexcusable and that is the opinion of all the groups concerned," said Mani Stenner, a spokesman for the organisers of a week-long programme of demonstrations in the port city. "We hope that this situation was an exception."

Police blamed the violence on some 2,000 militants known as the 'black block'. Some 430 police officers and 520 protesters were injured and police said 128 people were arrested in the clashes at the city's harbour.

The mass-circulation Bild am Sonntag newspaper declared the violence Germany's "G8 Shame!" and carried a large front-page picture of a balaclava-clad militant aiming a stone at police.

"Yesterday images were formed in our country that will damage our reputation across the world," wrote commentator Claus Strunz in a column for the newspaper.

Merkel will host the G8 for talks on June 6, focusing on African poverty and climate change.