June 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Rome drew protests and disrupted transportation, as 10,000 police and soldiers guard against terrorist attacks and patrol demonstrations against the occupation of Iraq.

The city's Ciampino airport is banning flights for two days because of the visit by Bush, who met the Pope after talks with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Bush is also holding meetings with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Flights arriving into Ciampino were diverted to the Leonardo Da Vinci airport, with delays of as long as three hours.

Protesters arrived at the train station wrapped in rainbow peace flags and brandishing banners with slogans such as ``Get Out of Iraq'' and ``Stop the Criminal.'' Garbage cans were set on fire and protesters blocked several large streets, including Cristoforo Colombo, one of the main streets leading into Rome.

``I'm against the war, I'm against Bush and I'm against Berlusconi,'' said Enzo Salome, 52, a worker at the communications ministry in Naples who came to Rome to join the protests. ``I'm not anti-American; I'm protesting a policy of waging war for oil.''

About 25,000 participated in the main march through Italy's capital, police told Ansa news agency. Apart from a few scuffles, the protests have been peaceful, scented with marijuana smoke, underscored by reggae music, and colored by rainbow peace flags.

`Best Friend'

Berlusconi, 67, who declared himself Bush's ``best friend'' in Europe after U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, faces opposition to the presence of 3,000 Italian troops in Iraq. Eight days before local and European elections, polls show about half of Italians want the soldiers to leave.

``Probably Berlusconi hoped to get a political boost from the Bush visit,'' said Sergio Romano, a historian and former Italian ambassador to Moscow, in an interview. ``The problem is that this is happening at a moment when criticism is strong.''

Pope John Paul II asked Bush for a ``speedy'' return of Iraqi sovereignty, and said the situation in the Middle East is of ``great concern,'' after their meeting. Bush awarded the 84-year- old pontiff with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. award granted to a civilian.

Rome is Bush's first stop in Europe before traveling to France to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the World War II landings in Normandy, the start of the liberation of France from the Nazis.

Opposition to Italy keeping its troops in Iraq has eased in the past weeks. Forty-seven percent of Italians opposed the presence of Italian soldiers in Iraq, while 43 percent supported it, according to a poll published in Corriere della Sera newspaper on Tuesday, June 1. That was down from a high of 57 percent in April. The Ispo/Allaxia poll interviewed 501 people between May 28- 30 and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.

Avoiding Clash

Apart from the risk of terrorism, security forces are seeking to avoid a repeat of clashes with anti-globalization protesters that marred the Group of Seven meeting in Genoa in July, 2001. During that meeting, Italian police killed a protester who attacked security agents. Demonstrators smashed storefronts, torched office buildings and stoned police.

``I am concerned, however, about the possibility of violence, about the absurd violence that we have already seen too many times,'' Berlusconi said yesterday. ``Our information does not let us be calm about the protests that are coming.''

Trains carrying protesters from northern Italy were held back about three hours to delay protesters on their way to the capital. Flights at Rome's main airport, Fiumicino, were operating regularly, said a spokesman for the city's airport manager, Aeroporti di Roma SpA.

Neither the police nor the Interior Ministry gave estimates for how many protesters will take to the streets. ``There is potential for violence,'' the U.S. embassy in Rome said in a notice advising U.S. citizens to stay away from the demonstrations.

`No Problem'

``I have no problem with someone who says `I don't agree.' In fact, I think it's healthy,'' Bush said in an interview Wednesday with Italian state television, when asked if he knew of planned anti-war protests in Rome.

Bush laid a wreath at Italy's monument to those who died in World War II to commemorate the U.S. role in liberating Italy from the Nazis. Bush, 57, is scheduled to dine with Berlusconi tonight and hold a press conference tomorrow before departing for Paris.

Bush's visit contrasts with his predecessor Bill Clinton's 1994 trip to Rome, when the former U.S. president was met with crowds of cheering revelers. Richard Nixon was forced to move entirely in a helicopter during a 1969 visit to the capital after anti-Vietnam war protests turned violent.

Closing Shop

Gioco, Coccole & Biberon, a day-care center in Rome's Prati neighborhood located near the Vatican, is closing for the day because the center doesn't want parents to risk bringing their children to the neighborhood in case of a terrorist attack.

U.S. restaurant chains and shops including outlets of McDonald's Corp. and Blockbuster Inc. will be closely guarded, the Interior Ministry said. The number of police guarding subway trains and stations will double and they will be equipped with emergency kits in case of biological or chemical attacks.

Subway use during rush hour Friday morning fell 60 percent compared with a normal working day, according to ATAC, which runs Rome's trains, subways and buses. The city center was cleared of thousands of trash cans and 600 garbage containers.

The Parioli neighborhood, where Bush will stay at Villa Taverna, the U.S. ambassador's residence, is sealed off to road traffic and as many as 15 bus lines were rerouted. A sit-in by protesters banging pots and pans is planned near the residence ``to keep Bush awake,'' la Repubblica reported.

Muted Support

Support for the demonstrations among Berlusconi's political opposition may be muted because of demands by the kidnappers of three Italian civilians in Iraq. The group, known as the Green Brigades, released a video Wednesday of the three surviving captives and said demonstrations would be a condition for the release. A fourth hostage was murdered by the group on April 14, two days after they were captured.

Violent demonstrations may be more damaging to the opposition parties than Berlusconi, said Franco Pavoncello, a professor of political science at John Cabot University in Rome.

``Fundamentally Bush's visit will be seen as a visit from the president of the United States, which liberated Italy 60 years ago,'' Pavoncello said. ``Violent protests will hurt the opposition more than Berlusconi.''

Ahead of the June 12 and June 13 elections, opposition parties would get 47 percent to 52 percent of the vote, according to the poll in Corriere della Sera. Berlusconi's alliance would win 41 percent to 45 percent, Corriere said. About 17 percent of voters are undecided. The margin of error was 2.5 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sheyam Ghieth in Rome at sghieth@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 4, 2004 12:28 EDT