THE chaos yesterday on the streets of London was fomented by a previously unknown anarchist umbrella group called J18 which used cyberspace to galvanise anti-capitalism protesters around the globe. The organisation's website advertised "a day of international action, protest and carnival against capitalism" and promoted events in 43 countries.

The J18 group, named after yesterday's date, planned its worldwide protest to coincide with the start of the G8 Summit in Cologne. A campaign to remove the debt from Third World countries was the touchstone but the aims of the organisation are far wider.

J18 group claims no leaders but its senior figures are members of Reclaim the Streets, the anti-car movement which has disrupted London on previous occasions. The group's roots lie in the anti-poll tax demonstrations of a decade ago. Through the internet, it maintains a network of anarchist groups, and its website promoted the wide range of events planned by the various groups.

"Autonomously organised events ranging from education forums, pickets, protests, discussions, blockades and street parties will disrupt business as usual and show the world that things could be very different," J18 promised on its own site. As the protests got under way, J18 collected updates from far-flung locations and posted them on the site, which criticised police "aggression". The site featured colour pictures of the day's events, webcast streams of video footage, and links to the activist organisations taking part in the protests.

While the internet appears to be the group's main tool, J18 dabbled in print publishing, putting out a spoof of the London Evening Standard newspaper. "Global Market Meltdown" the page-one headline screamed. "Panic stalks Square Mile following dramatic collapse of world financial markets."

The group was promoting a "fare-dodging" sequel to yesterday's protests: "Get together en-masse at your main train station and get on a train for Cologne and let us turn June 19 into another day to remember. No money. No passport. No problem."