Finance chiefs gather amid threats

Police leave has been cancelled ahead of the meeting

By Justin Webb BBC Washington correspondent

The world's finance ministers are gathering in Washington for the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

All police leave has been cancelled as the authorities prepare to deal with a large number of demonstrations that have been called to coincide with the gathering.

Demonstrators will highlight a wide range of issues

Forty anti-oil protesters have already been arrested - for cycling the wrong way down a one-way street.

There has also been an official warning that terrorists might be planning to attack American banks.

Some of the protesters are targeting the IMF and the World Bank specifically but others have a much wider focus, including support for the Palestinians and opposition to the US-led war on terrorism.

Attack warning

Organisers say they are intending to be peaceful but the police are taking no chances - they have been clearing the centre of the city of items that could be used as weapons, including letter boxes, rubbish bins, and outdoor chairs and tables.

Construction firms have been told to secure their sites and remove loose items.

As well as the protests, the authorities have an added worry - a warning from the US Attorney General, John Ashcroft, that terrorists might be planning attacks on financial institutions.

Officials say the warning came partly from intelligence gathered from Abu Zubaydah, the most senior member of the terrorist network al-Qaeda to be captured in Afghanistan.