Romania sends homeless away from NATO summit area

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian authorities have evicted dozens of homeless people living in Bucharest's sewer system in order to seal off underground canals to secure the capital for a NATO summit this week, police said.

Starting Wednesday, Bucharest will host NATO's biggest summit of world leaders ever, with guests including U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The government has deployed thousands of police officers, brought in fighter jets and snipers to ensure security for the event.

"We evicted 37 persons out of sewers along the route used by NATO delegations. The manhole covers were sealed," said Christian Ciocan, spokesman of Bucharest police.

"They were offered a hot bath, fresh clothes, a meal and a chance to stay overnight."

But he said most of the homeless refused shelter and were back on the streets and in the parks.

Hundreds of people, many of them children, are homeless in Bucharest, begging on the streets and sniffing glue in underground passages.

One homeless young man told local television Realitatea TV that city authorities drove him and several others to an open field outside of Bucharest.

"They took us out because some president George Bush is coming," he said. "They searched us, they took our glue," he said, without giving his name.