Copenhagen in chaos?
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Simmering anger at the slow progress of climate change talks, plus the raft of restrictions and long delays facing delegates attempting to access the Copenhagen Summit boiled over today, as hundreds of NGO delegates were refused entry and clashes broke out between activists and the police.
News agencies are reporting that a group of 1,500 climate activists tried to march on the Bella Centre where the conference was being held. The police ended up firing tear gas and arresting around 100 of the marchers.
Correspondent Willemien Groot says police are stepping up their presence as there is a growing fear that the situation could get out of control. She adds that the mood is just as tense at the Bella Centre itself, where hundreds of NGO delegates with passes have been refused entry for "security reasons".
Friends of the Earth International has 500 delegates in Copenhagen and has already accepted having the number allowed into the building cut to 90. The final straw came today when even those in possession of a much-coveted access pass were told that they too were banned.
Chairman Nnimmo Bassey suggested that conference organisers were stiffling freedom of speech. "We expected an open debate, but now people are excluded. This is unbelievable," he said.
As frustrations rise and an increasing number of NGOs find themselves in the same situtation, there is talk of another "walk out" being staged, this time by the representatives of civil society, rather than the delegates from African nations.
