Agence France Presse
PRAGUE, Sept 25 (AFP) - Three non-governmental organizations on Tuesdsay charged that radical groups had abused a protest here against the IMF and the World Bank by engaging in violence with Czech police.
The three groups, CEE Bankwatch Network, Friends of the Earth International and Jubilee 2000, said in a joint statement they supported "the thousands of peaceful protesters today who delivered a clear message to the IMF and the World Bank that the time has come for change."
"At the same time they condemn the fact that some groups abused the protests to engage themselves in violent confrontations with the police," the statement said.
"The organizations think that such actions undermine the efforts to advocate positive changes within the institutions."
The three groups advocate debt cancellation for the world's poorest nations as well as stronger global environmental measures.
Nearly 100 people were hurt Tuesday, according to the Czech news agency, when police battled demonstrators trying to advance on the Prague Congress Center where the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were holding their annual general assembly.
Witnesses said the worst clashes occurred when groups of anarchists and members of the militant Italian group Ya Basta! tried to force their way through police lines.
Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannon.
Police estimates early in the day put the number of protesters at around 6,000. But by evening they said some 11,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets of Prague.
The protesters and the three non-governmental organizations accuse the IMF and the World Bank of imposing harsh conditions on poor countries that borrow from them -- conditions they say force local authorities to divert scarce resources to debt repayment and away from social and environmental needs.
But while certain groups want to abolish the two Washington-based lending institutions, others believe they can be reformed.:
