Thousands join anti-G7 mass march in France

MORE than 9,000 anti-G7 protesters joined a mass march across the French-Spanish border on Saturday as world leaders arrived for a summit in Biarritz just hours after activists clashed with police.

Since Monday, anti-capitalist activists, environmentalists and other anti-globalisation groups have begun flocking to southwestern France for a counter-summit which they insist will be peaceful.

“Heads of state: act now, Amazonia is burning!” read one banner as the huge crowd rallied under cloudless blue skies in the French coastal town of Hendaye, the slogan referring to the wildfires ravaging the world’s largest rainforest.

Waving thousands of flags, they marched across the Bidassoa River heading for the Spanish town of Irun, chanting slogans and playing the drums.

The demonstrators were an eclectic mix of environmental activists, families and antiglobalists, AFP correspondents said.

The rally ended shortly before 2pm (1200 GMT) with no major incidents, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

But authorities remain on high alert, with Biarritz on lockdown and police deployed en masse in the neighbouring town of Bayonne as well to keep protesters at bay.

Overnight, 17 people were arrested and four police lightly injured when clashed erupted in Urrugne near the Spanish border some 25km south of the resort.

“I want to call for calm and for unity,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in an address to the nation just hours before the official opening of the summit at which world leaders were to address the Amazon crisis along with other divisive global issues.

“We won’t be able to face all these big challenges if we don’t act together,” he said.

Friday night’s confrontation occurred as activists tried to block police from reaching a site where they had set up camp, with police firing tear gas and using controversial rubber rounds known as LBDs to disperse them, AFP correspondents said.

Earlier on Friday, police blocked several hundred demonstrators from reaching a roundabout on the road between Biarritz and the Spanish border.

France has deployed more t han 13,000 police and genda r mes to secure t he event amid fears of disturbances by radical anti-capitalist groups, a na rch ist s a nd t he “yel low v e s t s” w ho h a v e s t a g e d months of a nt i-government protests.