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G8 protesters rally again in Sapporo

SAPPORO, Japan, July 6 (UPI) -- Protesters at the G8 summit took to the streets of Sapporo, Japan, for a second day Sunday, the day after police said they arrested four marchers.

Sunday's crowd of leftists, anti-globalization activists and right-wing counter-protesters was more relaxed than the previous day's gathering in which helmeted riot police scuffled with about 5,000 protesters, The Daily Telegraph reported.

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Those confrontations resulted in four arrests, including that of a media photographer, and brought accusations of heavy-handed tactics. the British newspaper said.

"We were surprised by the excessive force used by police in (Saturday's) demonstration," Ko Watari, of Watch, a Japanese legal network, told the newspaper. "This was a non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place, or even appeared likely to take place."

Sapporo police arrested an extremist right-wing protester Sunday for threatening a crowd of leftists as they marched through the city, the Telegraph said. The city, the largest on the island of Hokkaido, is about 60 miles from the summit in Toyako.

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