CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Anti-globalization activists and one man on a hunger strike dug in on Monday for a long, hot week of protest against the world's most powerful leaders, who are set to meet at a well guarded and secluded Canadian Rocky Mountain resort.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has vowed to keep aid to Africa at the top of the agenda that begins on Wednesday for the so-called Group of Eight leaders, but President Bush threatened to steal the limelight by revealing his plan for Mideast peace on Monday.
With the leaders set to begin arriving on Tuesday, activists were off to an early start trying to spread their message that average people from around the world have been left out of key decisions affecting them.
So far, they have concentrated their actions on the oil industry city of Calgary, about 1-1/2 hour's drive east of the now heavily fortified alpine resort of Kananaskis, Alberta.
Guarded by laser-guided anti-aircraft missiles, tanks and helicopters, the leaders will be far away from the protesting rabble, if not the bears that regularly inhabit the craggy mountain retreat.
The leaders of Canada, Italy, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States will deal with an agenda that includes the weak world economy, the battle against terrorism and efforts to help Africa cure such problems as poverty and the HIV and AIDS crisis.
Calgary police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's military have assembled the country's largest-ever security detail in both locations to guard against any violent protests, like those that have erupted at similar events.
One 20-year-old Canadian protester was on the fifth day of a hunger strike he said was in solidarity with third-world people.
"My main goal is to get as much information out there as possible by using this device, because far too often the focus of the public is on the protesters and violence and as a result, the reason why people are out there is lost," said Gabriel Cardenas-Sharpe, who wavered with weakness while talking with Reuters.
The first big protest was held Sunday in Calgary, where more than 2,500 activists took to the streets. The mood was party-like and police, which were out in force, made no arrests.
Security officials said the event was a good example for other protests planned in coming days as temperatures remain as high as 29 Celsius (84 Fahrenheit), but the huge force was not letting down its guard. Besides protesters, thousands of media are converging in the city for the summit.
"We need to keep a balance between providing a safe venue, making sure it's a safe venue for everyone, and at the same time providing an opportunity for folks to be heard and seen," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Gaudet. "We have a mandated obligation to make sure there is no criminal activity in terms of violence or damage to property."
Already activists are crying foul, saying many police that patrolled Sunday's protest had no name tags or badge numbers. Police attributed that to new uniforms for the event.
"This is the largest security effort ever enabled on Canadian soil, and name tags didn't occur to them?" said Sarah Dover of the G8 Legal Collective, which is offering legal support to activists. The group launched an official protest on Monday.
The police received a scare when 30 of their own fell ill on Sunday with food poisoning at the cordoned-off Kananaskis site. But the officers were responding well to treatment and the idea that it was a deliberate act was quickly dismissed.
"There is no chance of that at all. The kitchen is located behind the tightest security in North America," said Corporal James Johnston. "This is just an unfortunate incident that was contained very rapidly."
In a much-anticipated speech, President Bush on Monday backed creating a provisional Palestinian state and a final settlement in three years, but only if there was a "different Palestinian leadership," and if other tough conditions are met.
Bush spelled out his long-awaited vision of a state called Palestine -- with Yasser Arafat no longer at its helm.
Canada's Chretien said on Monday he was not concerned that Bush's initiative will avert attention from his cherished goal of spearheading new aid development for Africa.
"Not at all, because I'm the chair," Chretien told reporters in Ottawa after a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder -- who is also headed to the G8 meeting.
Nongovernmental organizations called on the G8 to cancel debts the third world owes rich countries, saying payments are robbing countries in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
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