Thousands of raucous demonstrators rallied against globalization, war and corporate greed under a heavy police watch on Saturday in a massive protest aimed at the World Economic Forum that avoided the violence that has marred similar past meetings.
As protesters marched about 2km through midtown Manhattan, wearing costumes, carrying signs and puppets, making music and chanting slogans before finishing near the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the forum was being held, even the police praised their peaceful conduct.
"They've been wonderful," police spokesman Kevin Czartoryski said of the protesters.
Just seven people were arrested for disorderly conduct during the march that drew more than 5,000, a police spokesman said. Two others were arrested for disorderly conduct at an earlier rally outside the hotel that drew another estimated 3,000 demonstrators.
With more than 4,000 New York City police officers, US Secret Service agents and private security guards braced for potential disruptions, the peaceful protests brought a sense of great relief after the violence that brought the 1999 WTO summit in Seattle to a standstill. Last year, Italian police shot and killed one demonstrator at the G8 Summit in Genoa.
Phalanxes of police in riot gear kept the protectors a block or more from the posh hotel where the forum met, shielding the attendees at the five-day gathering of the world's business and political elite from the demonstrations outside.
The attendees included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Japanese Economic Minister Heizo Takenaka and US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
David Graeber of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence anarchists group said protest leaders had decided on peaceful protests in the taut, post-Sept. 11 atmosphere in New York.
"All the organizers agreed this would be strictly legal," he said.
A mix of young students and older protest veterans, the crowd waved signs reading "World Exploitation Forum" and "End the War." Some carried a giant papier mache vulture wearing "WEF" on its breast as it perched atop planet Earth.
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