Unrest in Copenhagen

According to reports, the raids mainly targeted protestors who had come from Germany so they could be expelled from the country, a police spokesperson said. He was unable to specify their number.

Witnesses said numerous Germans had played a major role in the street riots on Friday night. One person was injured by protestors throwing paving stones, setting cars on fire and putting up barricades.

According to the Ritzau news agency, German and Danish authorities have increased border controls to prevent more violent protestors slipping into Denmark en route to Copenhagen out of solidarity with the Danish protest.

On Saturday night, the violence was limited to scuffles between police and small groups of protesters who threw rocks and set fire to trash bins and barricades, but the unrest did not escalate into the full-scale riots of the two previous nights.

"We are very happy that the situation was so quiet," police spokesman Lars Borg said. "The people who want to demonstrate have been more aware that the things they are doing are not the right things to do."

Arrests continue despite quieter night

More than 30 people were arrested near the Christiania hippie enclave after protesters built barricades on a major street and set them on fire in the early hours of the morning, police said.

Nearly 300 rioters were arrested earlier in Copenhagen after police moved against an estimated 1,000 mainly teenagers, some hurling petrol bombs and stones. Police said a hard core wearing masks erected barriers and set fire to these and to cars, smashed shop windows and vandalized a school before melting away.

A crowd also gathered outside city hall and prepared to march to the Umgdomhuset, a building some two kilometers (one mile) away, which has acquired a cult reputation over the last 25 years as a home to underground culture.

Its inhabitants were forcibly evicted on Thursday, prompting two nights of violence after Thursday's dawn police raid. The Ungdomshuset has been a haven for rebels, punks and squatters since the 1980s when the city of Copenhagen gave the groups permission to move into the youth centre.

Protestors head for youth center at heart of unrest

The Ungdomshuset was recently sold to the Christian group Fadershuset, which requested the eviction of the youths. An August 2006 court ruling ordered the occupants to be evicted from the centre, which they insist belongs to them.

The building has been a popular hang-out for Copenhagen's alternative society, serving as a venue for concerts, plays and debates. Big stars such as Icelandic pop artist Björk have performed at the venue.

Demonstrators carried banners Saturday saying: "No to police violence," and "Keep the youth centre" while large numbers of police were on standby.

Line Barfoed, spokesperson of the Unity Party, the former communist party, appealed to Copenhagen's mayor to seek "a political solution to the current crisis." She also called on police to "avoid any escalation of violence and not arrest citizens showing solidarity with young people."

Supporters call for political solution

"This entire affair is going to cost the authorities much more than it would have done if they had left this historic house with young people," she also warned.

Rasmus Willig, chair of the Danish sociologists' association, said it was irresponsible to take the community house away from the young people after it had served as a focal point for underground culture and a great attraction among visitors to Denmark.

In all, 643 people have been arrested, including 140 foreigners from other European nations and the United States, since the clashes started Thursday. They included 20 Swedes, 20 Norwegians and 25 Germans, police said. "We arrested 188 people during the night and a further 90 this morning," said a police spokesman.