Thousands of protesters, police for NATO summit

David Rising and Scott Sayare , The Associated Press , Baden, Germany Thu, 04/02/2009 9:41 PM World Tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on two southwest German towns and the French city of Strasbourg Thursday to protest a cross-border NATO summit marking the alliance's 60th anniversary.
Twenty-eight world leaders will attend the two-day summit that begins Friday, including President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In a bid to prevent violence, France has temporarily reinstated border controls with its immediate neighbors for the meeting.
In Strasbourg, protesters gathered on park benches in the city's famed Old Town, in the "orange zone" where the public is allowed but where security is high.
Small squads of riot police marched through as protesters wrapped in rainbow peace flags distributed fliers and chatted with passers-by.
Gregorio Yong, a Colombian activist, said NATO was "a synonym of war."
German authorities estimate that up to 25,000 protesters will take part in several demonstrations in the German cities of Baden-Baden and Kehl, while France's interior minister has suggested 30,000 to 40,000 could show up in Strasbourg, where a camp has been set up to house demonstrators.
German and French police have said 2,000 to 3,000 members of the violence-prone "black block" - so-called for the black clothes and hoods they wear - are expected.
Some 15,000 German police - including 31 riot squads - and 9,000 French police will be on hand.
Protest organizers have called for peaceful demonstrations to highlight their complaints, including anti-war, anti-globalization, anti-capitalist and disarmament platforms.
The German chapter of the left-wing Attac group, which is calling for the withdrawal of all NATO troops from Afghanistan and an end to the military alliance, climate protection and a "just world economy," was organizing conferences, camps, demonstrations and blockades.
"The world leaders will be confronted with our protest and our call for a peaceful world," said Attac spokeswoman Gudrun Reiss. "We're calling for massive participation."
The Berlin Anti-fascist Left group said it was sending at least 10 busloads of demonstrators.
"It must be made clear to people that there is no peaceful political alternative to the dissolution of NATO," the group said.
After an evening protest Thursday in Baden-Baden, the main demonstration begins Friday at noon in Kehl. The activists plan to march across the Rhine river into Strasbourg, with another protest planned for Saturday.