New York Protest Camp Cleanup Postponed

Occupy Wall Street protesters clean Zuccotti Park ahead of an eviction notice issued by New York City authorities.

New York authorities say a planned cleanup of a park in lower Manhattan where anti-Wall Street protesters have been camping for nearly four weeks has been postponed.

The protesters had said the planned cleanup was merely a pretext to evict them. The "Occupy Wall Street" protesters blame corporate greed for the United States current economic problems.

Their protest has inspired similar demonstrations in other U.S. cities and across the globe.

Hundreds of supporters had been streaming into the park early on October 14 in response to the protesters' call to join them ahead of what some had feared would be a showdown with police.

Some 300 to 400 protesters were in the park in Manhattan overnight, where brooms were handed out as protesters began cleaning up the park themselves.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has sparked similar protests in other countries.

compiled from agency reports