TOKYO, Feb 4 (Reuters) -- Fearing demonstrators will wreck the Group of Eight summit in July, Japan said on Friday it would set up a special task force to try to prevent a repeat of the protests that disrupted December's world trade talks in Seattle.
The team, to be set up by the Foreign Ministry, will gather information on the activities of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), exchange views and offer meetings with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, the Kyodo news agency said.
Japan is eager to use the July 21-23 summit on its southern island of Okinawa to boost its international prestige.
Officials said they feared a repeat of the Seattle riots, Kyodo reported. The Group of Eight comprises the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Britain, Canada, Italy and Russia.
At a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministers' meeting in Seattle in December, thousands of anti-WTO demonstrators created havoc near the conference centre, preventing ministers and negotiators from getting to meetings on the first day.
Anti-trade smashed windows during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, but their attacks were small-scale compared with the attacks on property in Seattle, where marchers caused damage worth millions of dollars to shops and restaurants belonging to chains they accused of exploiting workers.
Some NGOs have already launched activities targeted at the Okinawa summit, Kyodo said.
The Jubilee 2000 movement, which wants debt forgiveness for heavily indebted poor countries, has begun pressing Obuchi to support their cause, it said.
In addition to the anti-trade protesters, Japan fears popular demonstrations against the U.S. military bases in Okinawa.
Local residents want a reduction in the heavy U.S. military presence while environmental activists oppose the relocation of a U.S. military heliport from one part of the island to another, saying it will damage marine life.:
