A Hong Kong police officer said on Sunday the 900 detained anti-WTO demonstrators will be dealt with according to related laws of Hong Kong.

Alred Ma Wai-luk, chief superintendent of the HK Police's Public Relations Branch, said at a press briefing on the sidelines of the Sixth Ministerial Conference (MC6) of the WTO that the detained demonstrators, who launched attacks on police Saturday, include South Koreans, people from China's Taiwan, and a small number of Hong Kong citizens.

He said so far, 97 people have been injured during the incident, including 39 policemen. At the press time, four are still in hospital for treatment.

Ma said the police will facilitate any peaceful demonstrations while taking proper measures to control the situation.

He said water and food were provided to the demonstrators when they were surrounded by police on Saturday.

After rounding up about 900 protesters for hours, Hong Kong Police began to take them away.

The demonstrators, mainly South Korean farmers, have been taken away from the Hong Kong Island to Kowloon for detention.

Police turned water hoses on the crowds who were attacking them with sharp objects and snatching their protective shields.

As the violence escalated, police had to use pepper-powder and tear-gas grenades.

In view of the disturbances which occurred in Wan Chai area on Saturday, police on Sunday morning appealed to members of the public to refrain from taking part in public meetings and public processions to be held on Sunday for the sake of their own safety.

Sunday is the last day of the six-day MC6. All the MC6 meetings have been held normally.

The previous ministerial meetings of the WTO also saw violent demonstration and other protest activities. On Nov. 30, 1999, the first day of a WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle in the United State, at least 40,000 people staged a demonstration. Police arrested 70 people and the opening ceremony of the conference was postponed for five and a half hours.

The demonstrators set fire, broke store windows and spray- painted building walls and police cars with anto-WTO graffiti. As a result, a state of civil emergency was declared and a curfew was imposed in downtown areas of the city.

During the Cancun Ministerial Conference in September 2003, about 2,500 non-governmental organization representatives and anti- globalization people held a demonstration on the opening day of the conference and clashed violently with the police. At least 26 people were injured and a South Korean demonstrator committed suicide.

Source: Xinhua