Munich police clash with protesters

Police broke up a crowd in the town centre

The first clashes between police and protesters have occurred in Munich, as the city braces for mass demonstrations against a high-profile security conference.

The total ban on demonstrations is political censorship

Alliance against Nato

Officers broke up a crowd of several thousand protesters in the centre of the southern German city, which a police spokesman said contravened a city-wide ban on demonstrations.

City authorities requested the ban for the duration of the summit amid fears protests could turn into the kind of violence which accompanied many of last year's international summits.

About 400 defence experts from almost all the Nato countries will attend the conference, which will discuss the fight against terrorism and Nato's planned expansion.

Protesters detained

About 2,000 anti-war protesters gathered in the city's Marienplatz chanting "we are the people" and "we are peaceful, not you," the Sueddeutsche website reported.

Several dozen were detained, some in handcuffs, when the police broke up the gathering, Sueddeutsche said.

Protesters were arrested for not observing the ban

Four others, whom police said were known to be potentially violent, were also arrested ahead of the conference.

Security checks have been imposed on roads into the city, the main railway station, as well as in and around the city centre.

The alliance organising the protests says demonstrations will go ahead as planned despite the weekend ban, and insists that the protesters' intentions are peaceful.

It says the protest ban makes a mockery of constitutional rights, particularly freedom of speech and assembly.

A lawyer representing the protesters had hoped to challenge the ruling at Germany's Constitutional Court, but said on Friday that there was not enough time to lodge a petition.

Past experience

The police say they have evidence that up to 3,000 of the expected 5,000 protesters are bent on violence.

Many protesters are expected to arrive from Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Three thousand officers, as well as water canon, armoured personnel carriers and special commandos are to be deployed. Spaces are being cleared to allow for the detention of 300 people.

In the clashes between police and protesters at last summer's summits, dozens of people were injured and one protester was killed in Genoa by a young police officer.

The Italian authorities have come under fire internationally for their handling of the protests and their treatment of the demonstrators.