'World protests against corporate greed in top gear'

UK: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange joined about 800 people at a heavily policed rally in London’s financial heart Saturday as part of world protests against corporate greed and budget cutbacks.

The demonstrators, some of them masked, were pushed back by police as they marched from St Paul’s Cathedral to the London Stock Exchange, situated around the corner from the famous landmark.

There were only minor scuffles with two people arrested, one for assaulting a police officer, a spokesman at Scotland Yard said.

“The protest is largely peaceful,” the spokesman added.

Organisers in a group calling itself OccupyLSX were hoping for thousands of participants after some 15,000 people expressed support on Facebook and Twitter.

Assange, flanked by bodyguards, got a warm reception from the demonstrators as he addressed them from the steps of the cathedral. He also spoke to media groups assembled from around the world.

“One of the reasons why we support what is happening here in Occupy London is because the banking system in London is the recipient of corrupt money,” he said.

The marchers, bearing banners reading “Strike Back”, “No Cuts” and “Goldman Sachs Is the Work of the Devil”, were ringed by police cordons while mounted officers and vehicles also stood by.

But the protest, to the sound of guitars and drums, was overwhelmingly peaceful and the cathedral remained open to visitors.

After London’s police were severely criticised for being caught out by the riots in August, they were clearly taking no chances Saturday and were out in force.

Ben Walker, 33, a teacher from Norwich, eastern England, was carrying a rolled-up sleeping bag and said he planned to spend one or two nights in the area.

“I’m here today mainly as a sense of solidarity with the movements that are going on around the world,” he told AFP. “We’re hoping for a kind of justice in the global financial system.”

AFP