QUEBEC (CP) - Riot police tossed tear gas into a crowd of tenacious protesters Saturday morning, finally dispersing
a crowd that had authorities on full alert for several hours.
    Sporadic clashes between police and anti-globalization protesters led to about 100 arrests in total and left normally quaint Quebec City looking more like a battlefield as leaders of 34 countries arrived for the Summit of the Americas. The surreal sights included RCMP dogs wearing navy blue flak jackets and a hazy tear gas-induced cloud hanging over the sky. The violence first erupted Friday afternoon after protesters stormed through a metal fence set up to protect the political leaders, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien and U.S. President George W. Bush.
    Demonstrators toppled big sections of the 3.8-kilometre-long security barricade and began throwing rocks, golf balls, hockey pucks and smoke bombs at police.
    Police later used more tear gas and powerful water cannons to disperse a crowd that returned late Friday for another confrontation.
    The Friday night-Saturday morning clash, which saw hundreds of police near the summit site wearing gas masks, came several hours after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.
    Chretien blamed the trouble on "small groups of extremists" when he spoke later to 33 other hemispheric leaders attending the weekend trade summit.
    "This type of behaviour that we have witnessed here this afternoon that was carried out by a small group of extremists is contrary to all democratic principles that are so dear to us," Chretien said.
    "These people do not represent the vast majority of those who have come to Quebec City in order to express peacefully and calmly their legitimate concerns."
    Most protesters stayed well away from the three-metre-high concrete and wire security fence. But others clashed with police most of the afternoon, resulting in at least 25 arrests and injuries to demonstrators and five police officers.
    Dozens of officers armed with batons and guns stood in a long, solid line, forming a huge human shield to guard the area where the cement and chain link barricade was pushed over.
    Police said later they weren't totally surprised the fence gave way so easily because it was a "temporary structure."
    "But the police never lost control of the perimeter," said provincial police Insp. Robert Poeti.
    Many demonstrators were crying and covering their faces with handkerchiefs to ward off tear gas. Police fired off canisters of the gas only to have demonstrators toss many of them back.
    One protester placed all the blame on police.
    "I think it's completely insane," said Jason Capell of Vermont. "They could have avoided this just by not putting up fences."
    There were no reports of vandalism to homes or stores. One section of the barricade and nearby trees and signs were covered with toilet paper, later set on fire.
    Smoke rolled over blocks in the heart of the old city, spreading quickly around the area near the legislature. The wind pushed much of it back at police.
    A lone man yelled at a line of policemen as they walked in formation, tapping their shields to intimidate him.
    "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said the young man, who waved his finger at them.
    "These are like your teenage sons and daughters - they're just protesting. This is not democracy what you're doing."
    After the wall crashed down, some protesters took a metal gate and used it as a battering ram to storm a row of officers.
    Others urged an end to the melee. Some blamed the violence on an anarchist group called the Black Bloc, whose members were seen climbing the fence and clashing with officers.
    Ryan Meili, a Saskatoon resident and spokesman for the Student Activist Network, called the police action an "over-reaction."
    "It was absolutely phenomenal," Meili said. "I was witness to a massive cloud of tear gas. The area looked like it was under siege.
    Police said those arrested included Jaggi Singh, a Montreal protester originally from Western Canada. He made headlines in 1997 when he was detained a day before the beginning of an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting in Vancouver.
    Singh was planning to demonstrate against world economic leaders and his 1997 arrest became a cause celebre after the gathering.
    The expectation of violence, which broke out near the convention centre and hotel where the leaders of Western Hemisphere countries gathered, was exactly what led authorities to set up the fence.
    "Please, please, no violence," someone pleaded with the crowd through a megaphone at one point. "This is what they want you to do."
    Buildings near the convention were sealed to prevent the spread of tear gas.
    Police dispersed people into side streets as helicopters circled above. They reconstructed the barricades with tractors.
    April Mathisz, a Lethbridge, Alta., teenager, had her hands behind her in plastic handcuffs.
    "They tell me to go one way," she said. "I went that way. Now they've arrested me for obstruction."
    One man was hit in the face with a tear-gas canister. Others were being treated by paramedics.
    Jeremy Thurston, 15, of Toronto, said he was tear-gassed.
    "People's skin and eyes were getting burned."
    Union activist Chris Ramsaroop, 26, also of Toronto, said police started tear-gassing people after protesters started chanting.
    Asked whether he was scared, Ramsaroop replied: "Yes, of course. There were a lot of people here."
    Cuban President Fidel Castro, the only hemispheric leader not invited, sent a message of support to the protesters.
    "I wish to express on behalf of the people of Cuba our sympathy and admiration for the brave and heroic behaviour of those that struggle there for such a just cause."
    Bush, Chretien and 32 other leaders were to spend the weekend in talks aimed at promoting the world's largest free-trade zone.
    Chretien and the federal government had faced fierce criticism from citizens' groups, city residents and civil liberty activists who say the perimeter enclosing the heart of the city, protected by 6,000 police, was going overboard.
stores and restaurants were boarded up or even closed completely in anticipation of up to 25,000 protesters.
 
 

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Who: Leaders of the 34 members of the Organization of American States (all countries in the Americas and Caribbean except Cuba). Also bureaucrats and trade negotiators. In all, about 9,000 delegates.

Why: Pursue greater intergration within hemisphere; discuss ways to solve collective problems like corruption and drug trafficking; proceed with proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA).

Media: 3,000 expected.

Civil Society: More than 10,000 people associated with the Hemispheric Social Alliance, an umbrella organization of citizens groups from across the Americas,  participated in a parallel People's Summit from April 17-20.

Concerns: Human rights, environmental standards, labour rights and domestic social programs in jeopardy as FTAA negotiated in secret.

Police: 3,000 to 5,000 municipal, provincial and RCMP.