Thousands protest G7 summit in southern Germany

Protesters hold flags and banners during a demonstration against the G7 summit in Munich, southern Germany. (Photo by AFP)

Thousands of people are protesting in the German Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen ahead of the arrival of the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised democracies for a two-day summit.

The crowds demanded action on Saturday on a grab-bag of issues including climate change, poverty and globalisation.

Police spokesman Hans-Peter Kammerer says the protests have so far been peaceful but that significant numbers of extremists from Germany, Austria, Italy and Britain were thought to be joining the expected crowd of some 8,000. More than 22,000 police were on hand.

Protesters’ spokesman Simon Ernst said they wanted to show their anger at the leaders of Germany, France, the US, Italy, Britain, Canada and Japan, calling them “the henchmen of bankers and corporations.”

The summit runs Sunday through Monday.