Anti-G7 protesters clash with police on Italian island of Sicily

Clashes have broken out between Italian riot police and protesters as hundreds of people marched against the policies of the leading industrial powers on the Italian island of Sicily near the venue of the Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Police fired tear gas at red-clad protesters in the seaside town of Giardini Naxos on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses said many activists could not make it to the protest in Giardini Naxos due to heavy security in the area.

Police reportedly stopped buses and cars multiple times at a main highway leading to Giardini Naxos and searched them for several minutes.

Bus loads of police lined the route of the march while a police helicopter hovered above.

According to the coordinator of Sicily's communist party, Alessandro D'Alessandro, there had been a media campaign of fear against the protesters, which kept the number of protesters lower than expected.

"It was hard to get here… but we came to tell the world's most powerful people that we oppose their military and capitalistic worldview. We are here to defend the interests of the weakest,” D'Alessandro said.

The mayor of Giardini Naxos ordered all local businesses to close Saturday over fears of recurrence of violent protests similar to the ones during a G7 summit in the northern Italian city of Genoa in 2001.

EU officials have described the current two-day summit, attended by the heads of state of the US, Italy, France, Britain, Germany, Canada and Japan, as the most challenging meeting of the G7 in years.

The gathering on the island of Sicily kicked off on Friday, with world leaders engaged in a heated argument with US President Donald Trump, who is considering withdrawing from the landmark Paris climate accord.

The first day of the summit on Friday failed to make progress on narrowing differences between the US and its partners as Trump is still reviewing Washington’s position.

SS