Anti-globalisation activists will lay siege to the Sardinian island of La Maddalena when it hosts the Group of Eight (G8) summit in July, a top Italian activist said Thursday.
''We will organise a fleet of hope that will break the blockage of the eight powers,'' said Francesco Caruso of No Global, explaining that arriving by sea was ''the only possible way''.
Caruso says his 'No Global' group will take its cue from the Free Gaza movement, which is organising a fleet from Cyprus that will sail to the Gaza Strip in May.
''If the expedition is a success we'll repropose it at the G8'', he said of the summit, which will take place under Italy's presidency July 8-12.
A parish priest has already signed up to help man the No Global boats during the siege and said others may join him.
Father Vitaliano della Sala, parish priest of Mercogliano in Campania, is known for his anti-globalisation sympathies and said he ''would not be alone''.
''There will be other parish priests (aboard),'' he said.
Father della Sala told politicians they should not be afraid of the protestors, but of ''the common people who have no money, jobs or food''.
''They're desperate and for this reason very, very angry. Leaders should be afraid of their desperation,'' he said.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Thursday warned that Italy ''will not tolerate violence'' during the G8 summit, commenting on demonstrations at this week's G20 summit in London where one person died from an apparent heart attack following clashes with the police.
''We have activated all the preventative tools to guarantee a safe G8,'' Frattini said.
''People who want to protest must and can do so peacefully, but we will not tolerate violence, extremist groups, people who only want to destabilise things and who have no interest in the solution of the major global questions,'' he said.
Sardinia Governo Ugo Cappellacci told ANSA Thursday he was ''confident that Italy will be able to deal by the book with all aspects connected to security''.
CALLS FOR G8 TO BE CANCELLED.
An MP from the Communist Refoundation Party meanwhile called for the G8 to be cancelled after the death of the G20 demonstrator.
''We don't want a new Diaz or a new Bolzaneto,'' said Alfio Nicotra, referring to the last time Italy hosted a G8 summit in Genoa in 2001.
More than 300,000 demonstrators converged on Genoa for the summit in July 2001, and during two days of mayhem one protestor was shot dead while attacking a Carabinieri policeman, shops and businesses were ransacked and hundreds of people injured in clashes between police and demonstrators.
Police brutality during a raid on the Diaz school, being used by protestors as sleeping quarters, and at the Bolzaneto detention centre resulted in two high-profile court cases, although many high-ranking officers were acquitted.
In December Mark Covell, a British journalist left unconscious after the Diaz raid, said he was concerned that violence could strike again in La Maddalena.
''The acquittal and indeed the promotion of the high-ranking police officers who presided over the G8 in Genoa suggest that this could happen again: the people responsible for law enforcement at the next summit are the same,'' said Covell.
Sandro Gozi of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party said Thursday that this year's G8 should go ahead.
''What happened at the G20 must make us reflect, above all to avoid the scenario in Genoa in 2001 repeating itself even minimally,'' Gozi said.
''But the G8 represents a great opportunity for our country and those calling for its cancellation are irresponsible''.
