10 arrests, injuries after Tamils clash with British police
May 19th, 2009 - 7:54 pm ICT by IANSLondon, May 19 (IANS) Ten people were arrested after violent clashes early Tuesday left 21 British policemen and 11 Tamil protesters injured in central London, police said Tuesday.
At least three policemen and eight Tamils were treated in hospital after the clashes, which began just after midnight when police moved demonstrators off a busy road opposite the British parliament, where they had been staging a sit-in.
The injuries were described as minor.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said 10 people were arrested for a variety of unspecified offences but the domestic Press Association news agency said several protesters complained of rough treatment by police.
Thousands of Tamils have been protesting outside the British parliament for weeks, calling upon the British government to intervene to end the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.
Although the protests have been largely peaceful, they have disrupted traffic in a busy part of central London and been criticised by the Speaker of the House of Commons for causing inconvenience and unsanitary conditions.
Protesters outside the Indian High Commission have also turned violent, and police made three arrests after several Tamils forced their way into the building and damaged windows last month.
Protesters were back in the square outside parliament Tuesday morning, but in far smaller numbers, police said.
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