Clashes at protest vs US base expansion in Italy

2009-07-04 17:53:03 -

ROME (AP) - Protesters have clashed with police at a demonstration against the planned expansion of an airport and U.S. military base in the northern city of Vicenza.
Demonstrators wearing helmets and carrying plastic shields threw stones and other objects at police guarding a bridge on the route of the protest. Police fired tear gas canisters and clubbed some demonstrators, but no injuries were immediately reported.
Thousands of protesters, many from other Italian cities, converged on Vicenza on Saturday to march against the expansion of the Dal Molin airport.
The plan would allow the transfer of four U.S. battalions from Germany, raising the number of active duty personnel in Vicenza to 5,000 from about 2,900 already stationed at the nearby Ederle base.