Bombs spark protester exodus

2005-07-08 17:23

Gleneagles, Scotland - Protesters drawn to the G8 summit have begun making their way home, with no incidents reported at Gleneagles or elsewhere in Scotland since the London bombings, police said on Friday.

Tayside Police, the force in charge of guarding the Group of Eight leaders, said there have been no arrests or security breaches since Thursday's attacks, in contrast to sometimes violent protests in the run-up to the summit.

"Most of the feedback from our colleagues is that many of the protesters have simply packed up and gone home because of what has happened in London," said chief superintendent Iain MacLeod.

More than 10 000 officers, a majority from other parts of Britain, were deployed at Gleneagles and in Scottish cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow where pre-summit protests took place.

Riot police

Dozens were arrested or hurt which riot police and protesters clashed during spontaneous demonstrations in Edinburgh on Monday and during a march Wednesday near the summit venue.

MacLeod said planning for Gleneagles included contingency measures for a major incident elsewhere in Britain, and that it was a priority to get as many seconded London police officers back to the capital as soon as possible.

"In terms of the effort at Gleneagles, we are maximising the use of other officers in a bid to release the Met officers," he said, referring to the Metropolitan Police, the main police force in London.

In Auchterarder, adjacent Gleneagles, many of the shops which had boarded their windows during the week for fear of violent protests had taken them down on Friday, as life returned to normal in the well-heeled town.

- AFP