Clashes between Copenhagen police and young protestors demonstrating continued overnight into Sunday, but did not escalate into the full-scale riots of the two previous nights.
 
Media reports said small groups of protesters continued to throw rocks at police and set fire to trash bins and barricades overnight, but there was no fresh big-scale violence.

Denmark's worst street violence in 14 years began on Thursday when an anti-terror squad evicted squatters from a youth center in Copenhagen's Noerrebro district.

Dozens of leftist sympathizers from neighboring countries joined teenage demonstrators, who threw petrol bombs and stones at riot police.

Police said a total of 634 people, including 140 foreigners from Europe and the United States, have been arrested since the clashes started. And about 26 people were reportedly wounded during the unrest.

Neighborhood groups called for an end to the violence, while curious tourists ventured into battle-scarred streets to snap pictures of charred car wrecks and cohorts of riot police.

Sunday, there were clear signs that local residents were getting fed up with the violence. About 40 wreaths of flowers and lit candles had been placed in front of the police barricades by the Youth House, and two community groups had placed flyers throughout the area calling for an end to the protests.

"There is only victim in this violent inferno: the residents of Noerrebro," the fliers said, followed by a clear message to the rioters: "You are not welcome."

Built in 1897, the Youth House was a community theater for the labor movement and a culture and conference center; Vladimir Lenin was among its visitors. In recent years, it has hosted concerts with performers like Australian musician Nick Cave and Icelandic singer Bjork.

The eviction had been planned since last year, when courts ordered the squatters to hand the building over to a Christian congregation that bought it six years ago.

The squatters refused to leave, saying the city had no right to sell the building.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2007)