Protesters Send Wake-Up Call To World's Economic Leaders

Thousands of people marched through London on Saturday to demand punishment for bankers, power to the poor and protection of the environment at a mass protest meant as a wake-up call to world leaders gathering here this week for an economic summit.

It was one of the largest demonstrations this city has seen since massive rallies against the invasion of Iraq six years ago. The turnout, estimated at about 150,000 reflected the depth of popular anger over Britain's economic crash and the perceived greed of bankers and other high-fliers whom many people blame for it.

The London protest was one of many across Europe leading up to the G20 summit.

"It's people that make changes, not governments," said Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary of Unite, one of Britain's biggest unions. "There should be more investment in public services and housing, not less, and greater help to get people back into work."

The leaders of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, an organization representing the world's biggest developed and emerging economies, will meet here Thursday to discuss ways to pull the global economy out of its hole. The meeting will be the first major summit for President Barack Obama, who is hugely popular in Europe but is having trouble reaching an agreement with European leaders on how best to combat the global recession.

Saturday's protest offered a foretaste of further demonstrations planned for this week - and of the security nightmare they present for London police.

OTHER PROTESTS

GERMANY: About 15,000 people gathered in Berlin, and a demonstration also was held in Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, under the slogan: "We won't pay for your crisis."

AUSTRIA: In Vienna, about 6,500 people gathered in the city center, with paper piggy banks, balloons or signs that read "We won't pay for your crisis" and "Capitalism can't be reformed."

FRANCE: In Paris, a small but focused group of around 400 protesters dumped a pile of sand outside the city's stock market to mock tax havens.

SWITZERLAND: Trade unions and left-wing groups in Geneva mobilized about 250 people who marched through town with banners reading "Capitalism is a mistake" and chants of "Revolution."

The Associated Press