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Leaders of the Group of Eight member countries pose for a group photograph in Genoa, this afternoon
Photo:REUTERS |
The Group of Eight leaders, shaken by the ferocity of anti-capitalist violence at their annual summit, have pledged to draw poor nations into the world economy and to make globalisation work.
The G8 have promised free and open debate with their citizens and decisive action to combat poverty, especially in Africa.
Focusing on Africa, the G8 approved a detailed development plan for Africa and aimed to create a joint forum with leaders from the world's poorest continent.
They launched a global fund to fight AIDS, but campaigners fighting the fatal disease said the 1.3 billion so far pledged by rich countries was outrageously low.
Charity Oxfam said the G8 did nothing meaningful on debt relief and the AIDS fund would not alter the high cost of drugs in poor countries.
The three-day summit left the ancient port of Genoa littered with burnt-out cars, smashed windows and vandalised property.
Meeting in a Renaissance palace, the leaders were sealed off from the activists in a topsecurity Red Zone , protected by six-metre (20-foot) barricades and defended by 20,000 riot police and troops.
In their communique, the G8 leaders thanked the citizens of Genoa but said they deplored the violence, loss of life and mindless vandalism that they had to endure .
The Italian government set aside an initial package of 10-15 billion lire (4.56.8 million) to help pay for the damage.
Last groups of protesters piled on to trains and buses to leave the Mediterranean port on Sunday afternoon as Genoese families began venturing out to survey the damage to the city.
It was the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Italian protester Carlo Giuliani on Friday - the first death in two years of anti-globalisation riots at various summits - that cast grief and gloom over the gathering.
Italian prosecutors opened an investigation into the 21-year-old paramilitary policeman involved in the shooting of Giuliani, one of dozens of protesters who stormed a Carabinieri jeep at the height of the unrest.
Meanwhile, amid claims of brutality against activists, police swooped on the headquarters of an umbrella protest organisation early today and detained 92 activists including 40 Germans, 15 Italians and six Britons. At least 66 protesters were injured in the raid, in which officers seized computer discs and found knives, pitchforks, axes and sledgehammers.
Canada's Chretien, due to host next year's summit, announced it would be held in a Rocky Mountains resort at Kananaskis, Alberta, that would be easier to police. The number of delegates would be slashed by about 80 percent, he said.