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| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 18, 2001 |
Tear Gas, Water Hose Greet G-20 Protesters |
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The police in Ottawa used tear gas, water hoses, pepper spray and bean bags to push back demonstrators protesting against the G-20 meeting in the Canadian capital city on Saturday afternoon.
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Tear Gas, Water Hose Greet G-20 Protesters
The police in Ottawa used tear gas, water hoses, pepper spray and bean bags to push back demonstrators protesting against the G-20 meeting in the Canadian capital city on Saturday afternoon.
The police, already wearing gas masks, fired tear gas into a crowd of about 2,000 people after a group of front-line protesters began to breach barricades around the G-20 conference venue. At one point, angry protesters lifted a section of the barricade and tried to toss it at the police.
Police also used a water hose and pepper spray on some rowdy protesters, many of whom came equipped with their own gas masks.
Earlier in the day, as a march of about 1,000 demonstrators got underway near the convention center in downtown Ottawa, heavily armed riot police quickly surrounded a group of activists on all four sides, and then swooped in and arrested about a dozen protesters who were wearing masks. Protesters called the arrests unwarranted and shouted against police brutality.
On Friday, the first day of the three-day G-20 meeting, four people were arrested and others detained as riot police with gas masks and shields squared off against an angry mob of protesters.
Vehicle and pedestrian traffic are being severely restricted around the Government Conference Center in downtown Ottawa for the second day today.
The protest has been spearheaded against globalization, a movement the protesters claim abandons the poor and benefits big business.
The fall meeting of the G-20 was originally scheduled to take place in India, but Canada offered to host the event after security concerns emerged when the war in Afghanistan began.
The G-20 is composed of the G-7 industrialized nations and other major economies such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. The first meeting of the G-20 financial ministers and central bank governors was held in Berlin, Germany in 1999.
The G-20 promotes discussions and studies and reviews policy issues among the member countries whose GNP totaling 85 percent of that of the whole world.
G-20 Vows to Cut off Terrorist Funding Financial ministers and central bank governors from the G-20 countries agreed Saturday to track and cut off terrorist financing around the world.
An action plan, adopted at a meeting of the G-20, said "the fight against terrorist financing is a shared responsibility of the G-20 and the broader international community." The three-day meeting started in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa Friday.
The plan said that member countries of the G-20 will strengthen cooperation among them to deny terrorists and their associates access to, or use of, the financial systems and to stop abuse of informal banking networks.
The financial ministers also agreed to implement quickly and decisively measures that the United Nations had identified as essential to combating terrorist financing.
They also agreed to enhance cooperation in exchange of information on terrorist financing. Meanwhile, each member of G-20 will establish promptly, or maintain a financial intelligence unit and will take steps to enhance information sharing among them, the
action plan said.
The G-20 is composed of the G-7 industrialized nations and other major economies such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. The first meeting of the G-20 financial ministers and central bank governors was held in Berlin, Germany in 1999.
The G-20 promotes discussions and studies and reviews policy issues among the member countries whose GNP totaling 85 percent ofthat of the whole world.
G-20 Favors Benefits of Globalization Shared by All Financial leaders of the G-20
countries called Saturday for greater efforts to ensure that benefits of globalization are shared by all.
In a communique adopted at a three-day G-20 meeting which began Friday, the finance ministers and central bank governors agreed that greater economic integration has led to demonstrable improvements in people's living standards.
The communique said "the G-20 and other countries that have integrated into the global system have in general made significant progress in raising real incomes and reducing poverty."
"However, the globalization also poses a number of challenges and risks, which call for enhanced international cooperation," it said.
The ministers agreed to work with the international financial institutions and the World Trade Organization to ensure that the benefits of globalization are shared by all, including the poorest countries, the communique said.
The G-20 is composed of the G-7 industrialized nations and other major economies such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. The first meeting of the G-20 financial ministers and central bank governors were held in Berlin, Germany in 1999.
The G-20 promotes discussions and studies and reviews policy issues among the member countries whose GNP totaling 85 percent of that of the whole world.
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