At least 500 protesters has been arrested by Belgian Police at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Sunday as peace activists from 17 countries tried to enter the grounds. A Belgian peace initiative had called the protest under the motto “NATO game over” to prompt a debate on the alliance’s role in the world.

A senior official said, “NATO is a relict of the Cold War. A fundamental reform of NATO is on the agenda there. They want to present a new, strategic concept on the 60th anniversary of NATO in 2009″. Huge numbers of police took up positions around NATO’s headquarters early Saturday.

Police had been monitoring the situation from a helicopter & also used a water cannon to disperse demonstrators.

The peace activists had armed themselves with rugs in order to climb over the barbed wire fence uninjured. Those arrested were later released far from NATO’s headquarters.