In Rome Italian riot police fired tear gas to break up a protest by anti-globalisation demonstrators outside a summit where European leaders were mulling over a new EU constitution. At least eight people were injured and 24 detained in the clashes near the heavily fortified venue in Rome's EUR district. Eight were held in custody.
Earlier a group of hooded rioters had earlier attacked a bank near the summit conference centre, damaging the building's reinforced glass windows.
Meanwhile, European Union defence ministers have agreed that the bloc should aim to take over NATO's Bosnia peacekeeping mission in mid-2004, a senior diplomat said.
The diplomat said Britain had offered at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Rome to take command of the force, which may number some 6,000 troops.
The ministers, who are holding their talks on the sidelines of an EU summit in Rome, are also due to decide whether the proposed force would be military or whether it would have mainly police duties.
NATO deployed a military force in Bosnia after the 1995 peace accords. It currently comprises 12,000 men.
