Earlier it reported that protesters had formed "human walls at all entrances to the Bank of America plaza".

It said protesters blocked officials, military officers and the police from going to work and formed their own "temporary defense committee" to keep order.

The protesters formed barricades with benches, blocking traffic on main thoroughfares, including an intersection that demonstrators blocked for several hours on Tuesday night.

The protest movement was denounced as "anti-American" by the German government, but the protesters formed their own alliance with American friends: peace groups and churches.

For example, in October 1983, 18,000 protesters formed a 17-mile human chain that virtually encircled the 11-square mile complex.

After a while, though, the protesters wearied of shouting and marching and formed a circle around an accordion that appeared out of nowhere.

Starting around midday, the protesters formed two giant processions from separate staging areas in east and west Berlin.

"It was like running a gantlet," he said, referring to the fact that the protesters had formed a narrow lane for him to pass through.

Soon the protesters formed human chains to block the six intersections surrounding the building, as police stood by watching.

Some protesters formed human chains around the bulldozers, while others planted trees, flowers, and cactus.