Italian protesters rally for 'B-Day'

By Tamsin Smith BBC correspondent in Rome

Tens of thousands of people have been marching in Rome in a protest against the visit by US President George W Bush.

Many of the protesters are furious at Bush's visit to Rome

Helicopters circling overhead are tracking the protesters.

The atmosphere is tense. Protesters are shouting "Yankees go home!".

Some hardliners are waving banners supporting the Iraqi resistance movement.

Angry young people have been splashing paint on walls, scrawling anti-American graffiti and flying American flags upside down, painted with swastikas.

They are protesting against the American occupation of Iraq and the involvement of Italian troops.

"George Bush and son, family butchers since 1989," read one banner.

'Oil war'

There were furious words from many of the people I spoke to.

"Mr Bush should run away from Rome," said one young man. "The Middle East is going to become like a bomb."

"Bush is in Iraq only for the petrol, only for the money," said another.

"The message is go back home. Stay away from Iraq."

Many groups and left-wing politicians taking part in the demonstration said it would be peaceful but, with some hardline protesters promising violence, the Italian authorities are taking no chances.

Nobody here wants to see a repeat of the violence which flared in Genoa during the G8 conference in 2001.

Some tear gas was fired by police, but much of the march remained peaceful.

'Hospital alert'

Some 10,000 extra police have been drafted in, there is a no-fly zone over the city, hospitals are on high alert and schools in the centre of Rome are closed.

Anti-war feelings are running high with 70% of Italians against the war.

An estimated 10,000 people have been on the streets

There have been countless demonstrations during the past year but, with European elections looming, tensions are high and people here say the mood today feels different on what has been dubbed "B-Day" by the press.

"The scared feeling is much bigger and we feel like we have no choice but to demonstrate now," says Francesca Marzo, a peace protester and researcher.

"The way the government has organised this visit forces us to take a strong position," she says.

Emiliano, a PhD student, agrees that the context is "very different".

"Spain has changed, Europe has changed... I am marching today not just as an Italian but as a European," he says.

Political football

With George Bush here to celebrate the liberation of Rome, many people here stress that they are not anti-American but anti-Bush.

"We like America, but we don't like the bombs of America," said one demonstrator.

With European and local elections looming, you only have to take a look at the campaign posters here in the centre of Rome to see that Iraq is definitely an issue now.

Opposition party posters display gruesome photos of dead Iraqi civilians or torture victims.

But while Iraq has polarised political debate here, it is unclear whether voters will deliver a slap in the face to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the polls next week.