IMF
- MEETING CLOSED
EARLY The weary captains of global capitalism said Wednesday they were finishing the annual summit of the IMF and World Bank one day early, but insisted their business was done and they had not been derailed by violent street protests. Bank
officials were reading final statements early Wednesday evening, saying
their only business Thursday, the original closing day, would be to hold
a ''They
moved more quickly than anticipated - they finished ahead of time,'' said
David Hawley, a spokesman for the International Monetary Fund. ''It has
The
mood Wednesday morning had been decidedly glum, but Hawley said the finance
officials had not canceled any speeches or meetings before they got Delegates had filed past metal barriers and thousands of police, with some worried for their safety in the wake of raging street riots the day before that trashed the city center. Martin G. Dlamini, central bank governor from Swaziland, said he had canceled a business meeting outside the massive convention center because he was told by authorities it was not safe. ''Whether
these protesters will attack us - they may,'' Dlamini said. ''We from
less developed countries understand some of the issues being raised. But
Later,
about 300 or 400 protesters began marching from a town square toward the
police station, but were stopped by anti-riot police. The activists Protest leaders said they were caught off guard by the end of the meeting, but were quick to try to claim credit. ''If that is true I am really excited about it - that would be a real success,'' said Cyanne Loyle with the Initiative Against Economic Globalization, which had organized the mass demonstrations Tuesday intended to echo those at financial meetings in Seattle and Washington. Street protests raged a day earlier, with activists throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at riot police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons. The fighting left more than 70 people injured, including 55 police officers. Police said Wednesday they believed 12,000 protesters had been on hand, far more than the estimate of 5,000 they used Tuesday. Top IMF and World Bank officials insisted the demonstrators had it all wrong - that the agencies are not the enemies of the world's 2.8 billion poor but the biggest lenders to poor countries needing cash infusions. Representatives from the 182 assembled nations tried to give their own spin on the protests, saying images of hooded anarchists hurling rocks at black-clad riot police did not taint the image of the Washington-based lending groups. That's despite the fact that turmoil trails their meetings, with anti-globalization activists wreaking havoc at the spring gathering in Washington. ''This
has been an exception rather than the rule,'' IMF spokesman William Murray
said early Wednesday. ''We found the actions Tuesday in Prague World
Bank President James Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler
insisted Tuesday their institutions have heeded the calls of responsible
A delegate from tiny Papua New Guinea, watching the smoke drift across the city, said he felt the demonstrators had a point in trying to raise the awareness of poverty issues. ''We are hoping the developing world will be listened to,'' said Vele Iamo. |
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