Security net drops on Denver for Democrat jamboree

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

DENVER (AFP) — A tight security net enveloped Denver as the city braced Sunday for the arrival of tens of thousands of supporters and protestors for the Democratic Party's political extravaganza.

Some 45,000 people are expected in the city, nestled on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 police and security personnel to be deployed for the four-day convention which opens Monday.

But the security plans for the party convention coordinated by the secret service along with some 55 other agencies including the FBI and the US military have been denounced by civil rights groups as draconian and over-arching.

The first demonstrations were set to kick off early Sunday with a march outside the convention center called "to end the...