All aboard the 'anarchy express'

Poster advertising Genoa train trip

By CNN's Graham Jones

LONDON, England (CNN) -- They have already dubbed it the "anarchy express."

On Thursday, July 19 a specially chartered train will leave Calais, France taking 500 British protesters in air-conditioned comfort to join demonstrations at the G8 economic summit in Genoa, Italy.

The non-profit-making £120 ($170) a head package includes coaches to Dover, the ferry to France and even a visit to the Calais hypermarket. Accommodation in Genoa is "being negotiated."

The 12-coach train, which cost £50,000 to hire, features bunk beds and even has a conference car -- doubling as a disco -- where anti-globalisation activists can conveniently plan their tactics for the summit.

But the 500 on the Globalise Resistance special from Britain are only a small feeder group for what promises to be one of the most massive protests of recent years.

IN-DEPTH G8 Summit: Genoa 2001   • What has G8 achieved?   • Text of G8 statement   • Q&A: Genoa fallout   • Q&A: Summit history   • News search   • Audio/video archive   • Quickvote   • G8 country profiles   • G8 Okinawa 2000 archive   • TIME special: G8 summit   • In-depth: Bush in Europe   • Official Genoa G8 site   Message boards   • Missile defence   • Bush presidency   • Climate change

Up to 100,000 anti-globalisation demonstrators are expected on the sidelines of the summit featuring world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush.

Waiting for the demonstrators will be between 12,000 and 16,000 police fully equipped with riot gear and generously armed with tear gas, water cannon and batons. Army and navy personnel will also be on call, as will snipers, bomb disposal units and armoured vehicles.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Italian authorities' security measures, though, is the positioning of surface-to-air missiles at Genoa's Christopher Columbus airport. Dubbed the SPADA, the land-based system consists of missiles capable of a range of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). It was originally erected along Italy's Adriatic Coast during NATO's 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.

The ministry said the decision to install the missiles is not excessive.

"There's no excessive precaution," military spokesman Col. Alberto Battaglini told Reuters. "The measure, which was planned by the previous government, may seem open to criticism, but in reality it is merely to act as a deterrent against any aerial incursion during the summit.

"They are little missiles which only have a deterrent function to discourage any aerial-led attack and they do not present any danger to the residents of the city."

Previous anti-globalisation protest in Seattle

The choice of Genoa is regarded as a security nightmare. It is a port, with access from the sea, and has a backdrop of hills. Its central streets are narrow and winding, making hit-and-run violence of the type seen recently at the EU summit at Gothenburg two weeks ago difficult to contain.

Italy's defence minister, Antonio Martino, told CNN: "Genoa is not the best place to organise such a meeting because it is very hard to defend key sites and the concern of the government is that some violent elements may join the protesters and cause problems."

The head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service warned last week of a plot by terrorist Osama bin Laden to assassinate George W. Bush at the summit and the U.S. President may be staying offshore on the American aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise.

The other leaders of the world's most industrialised nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, plus Russia -- are also staying offshore on a luxury cruise liner, the "European Vision, " chartered by the Italian government at a reported cost of $2.89 million.

Two security zones have been designated. The top security "red zone" includes the city centre, the summit venue, the 13th century Ducal Palace, and the waterfront where hotels and cruise ships hosting 1,500 delegates and 5,000 journalists will be located.

The Old Port and the city centre will be cordoned off, litter bins removed, markets closed, manhole covers welded and sewers searched. No ships will be allowed into the harbour -- even a wooden schooner used as the set for Roman Polanski's film "Pirates" will have to go elsewhere.

Coast guard divers will search underwater caves while satellite data will help intercept any unwelcome vessels.

Wasington DC: Arrest at IMF/World Bank protest

The airport, the two main rail stations, an elevated railway and all motorways into the city will be shut. There is even a move to introduce checks at the border with France -- scrapped by the 1995 EU Schengen Treaty.

On Thursday Interior Minister Claudio Scajola and Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero were meeting members of The Global Social Forum, a network representing some 700 anti-globalisation groups.

Among their demands were the freedom to demonstrate in the outer, or "yellow zone" and for the police to be unarmed -- Italian police routinely carry weapons.

Scajola warned that the government would use "maximum severity" with those having "violent intentions." But there was concern the really violent groups were outside the Global Social Forum's umbrella.

Shopkeepers and bar owners who might have expected a bonanza are complaining fear of violence will force them to shut. Some have already installed steel shutters. Rubbish will not be collected for five days. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is due to visit the area this weekend and see the security preparations for himself.

Back in England the organiser of the Globalise Resistance special train, "revolutionary socialist" Guy Taylor, said that while there would be "a very few" anarchists on the train, the majority would be trade unionists, activists, NGO officials and peaceful protesters.

"There were 25,000 demonstrators in Gothenburg but only 600 were involved in trouble," he said.

"The focus in Genoa will be on Third World debt. On Saturday there is a mass demonstration on the issue. The G8 nations pull the strings of the World Bank and the IMF."

An SNCF (French Railways) spokeswoman said: "We cannot comment on specific cases. We have to adhere to customer confidentiality.

"In general when customers charter trains or carriages from us as long as they pay we don't ask who they are or what they want it for. Everyone has the right to travel.

"They will get there somehow so how does it matter how they will travel? If the authorities want to stop them why don't they pick on the coaches which will take them to Dover or the ferry taking them to Calais?"