Five held before EU-Bush summit

GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- Swedish police have arrested five people suspected of plotting to sabotage this week's European Union summit in Gothenburg.

The arrests come two days before U.S. President George W. Bush is due to arrive in Gothenburg in advance of the summit meeting.

Bush is due to meet Swedish officials and to attend a dinner at the Gothenburg Stock Exchange with European leaders on Thursday. The EU summit will be held on Friday and Saturday.

Gothenburg police said in a statement they also seized unidentified materials in a 4:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) raid on a flat and sent them to the SKL national forensic laboratory for analysis.

The SKL is responsible for analysing potentially hazardous materials such as explosives and poisons. The police declined to give further details on what they had found.

Reuters said the five were arrested on a charge of "preparing to commit serious sabotage." Police said they were all born in the 1970s and were not previously known to police.

Swedish authorities have closed off the main site of the EU summit. Large metal barricades were being erected and police patrols involving vehicles and foot patrols were increased.

Up to 30,000 anti-globalisation and anti-EU protestors are expected to converge on the city.

About 15,000 police officers have been deployed in a massive security operation.