Balloon protest fails at G8, blockade ends (1st Lead)

Jun 8, 2007, 10:03 GMT

Heiligendamm, Germany - Police helicopters forced a hot-air balloon to land Friday when it attempted to invade the aerial exclusion zone at the G8 summit on Germany's Baltic coast.

The environmentalist group Greenpeace mounted the flight, hanging a yellow banner underneath the blue-and-white balloon's gondola saying 'G8 act now,' overstamped with the word 'failed.' The balloon took off from near the port city of Rostock.

Three police helicopters approached the balloon, creating strong air turbulence which forced the balloon and its two occupants to land, a Greenpeace spokeswoman said.

The air space around the summit venue at Heiligendamm was closed to all traffic Friday, with 18 key nation leaders at the resort.

G8 leaders agreed Thursday to consider plans to halve harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but set no fixed goals. Most environmental organizations have criticized the deal as insufficient.

On the ground, a blockade at gates in the perimeter fence around the summit venue was lifted Friday, with protesters heading to a mid- day rally in Rostock, 25 kilometres distant, but 50 picketers remained at the main gate.

Protesters had defied a legal ban, streaming through fields on Wednesday to gather at the fence.

Riot police, who had been waiting for them, let them stay and allowed the blockades to proceed, but used horses, water cannons and plastic clubs to keep at least one of the gates open at all times.

Farmers in the area demanded Friday compensation from the government for trampled crops.

Mecklenburg West-Pomerania farmers' union president Rainer Tietboehl said the police were responsible, since they had shoved demonstrators into the fields while clearing roads.

State officials said no decision had been taken yet on the demand, but in principle the protesters should pay, since they trespassed on the farmland on the first day of the protests.

Greenpeace said protesting boat crews who had invaded the summit's marine exclusion zone on Thursday were recovering from bruises, cheerful that they had gained so much attention and bore no grudges after losing a high-speed chase on the Baltic Sea.

Karsten Smid, a Greenpeace spokesman, said the environmentalist boatmen thought it was 'unfortunate' that an inflatable police boat had overshot one of the protesting power-boats during the pursuit.

'We'd like to offer the police a training session on better ways to stop protesters,' he said.