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Washington police shut anti-IMF protest center

WASHINGTON: Police said on Saturday they tightened security, made more arrests and seized literature on how to make Molotov cocktails - crude gasoline bombs which could be used in a riot - as they braced for mass protests at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings.

Three protesters who planned to take part in a mass rally outside the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Sunday were arrested late on Friday during the search of an apartment in Washington which turned up devices to block streets and instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails.

Another man was arrested for running almost naked, dressed only in a grass skirt, through a busy street in Georgetown - the city's prestigious shopping and residential district - at a fringe protest against sweat shop labour outside The Gap.

That brought to 21 the number of arrests during the week of protests. With more than 10,000 expected at a protest rally scheduled for Sunday, police are concerned that the situation may deteriorate into the type of riots which disrupted world trade talks in Seattle last year.

Early Saturday morning authorities closed the warehouse being used as an organising headquarters by the anti-IMF coalition - the Mobilisation for Global Justice - for fire violations - including finding a Molotov cocktail.-Reuters