ROSTOCK, Germany, June 2 (Reuters) - Protesters threw stones and bottles and attacked police officers with sticks in the German port of Rostock on Saturday after a largely peaceful demonstration against next week's Group of Eight summit.

A group of demonstrators set upon police after a series of marches in the town. Reuters witnesses saw demonstrators throwing bottles and cobblestones at riot police, who fired tear gas in response. Several people were detained.

"There was a massive outbreak against police officers. Stones were thrown and they used sticks too," said a police spokeswoman. She could give no details on injuries or the number of people detained. According to police around 20,000 people gathered in the Baltic port city to protest against the G8 summit in Heiligendamm on June 6-8. Police said around 500 potential troublemakers were among the crowd.

AlertNet news is provided by