Protesters descend on ECB as Draghi fetes 1.3b euro HQ

Frankfurt

ANTI-AUSTERITY protesters seeking to spoil the inauguration of the European Central Bank's new headquarters in Frankfurt's east end set vehicles alight, erected barricades and left a trail of destruction across the city.

Police deployed water cannons to restore calm and keep the demonstrators at bay in the area surrounding the 1.3 billion- euro (S$1.8 billion) tower, after setting up barbed wire and road blocks.

ECB president Mario Draghi said at the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday: "European unity is being strained. The ECB has become a focal point for those frustrated with this situation. This may not be a fair charge - our action has been aimed precisely at cushioning the shocks suffered by the economy - but as the central bank of the whole euro area, we must listen very carefully."

The police estimated about 10,000 protesters would descend on the currency bloc's financial capital and home of the common currency under the Blockupy banner, and several thousand police officers were on duty. Demonstrations and sit-ins were planned at several locations throughout the city by groups and organisations sympathising with the plight of Greece.

The first incidents occurred "shortly after 6 am," said Claudia Rogalski, a police spokeswoman. "There have been violent outbreaks at several locations in which police have been attacked." Eight police officers were injured in the altercations, she said.

Rioters set several cars, including seven police vehicles, and garbage containers alight, set off smoke bombs and threw stones, glass and corrosive substances, police said in Twitter postings. Some arrests have been made, the police said, without providing a number, and have detained about 350 people "who prior to this rioted and committed criminal acts".

Nine days after the ECB started buying sovereign debt in a 1.1 trillion-euro plan to revive inflation and rescue the economy, protesters are laying the blame for recession and unemployment in the 19-nation euro area at the doors of Mr Draghi and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

A new government in Greece, led by the leftist Syriza party, is preparing emergency measures to raise cash as the country braces for more than 2 billion euros in debt payments on Friday. BLOOMBERG