Wellington - About 100 demonstrators staged a noisy protest against United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, dubbing her a war criminal, when she held talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in Auckland on Saturday.

Some wore orange boiler suits like those worn by prisoners at the US base Guantanomo Bay in Cuba and carried banners reading "USA a terrorist state" and saying Rice was wanted for war crimes, Radio New Zealand reported.

University student bodies had earlier challenged their members to make a citizen's arrest on Rice so that she could be charged with war crimes.

Clark cited the demonstration when the pair were questioned by reporters about China's human rights record and the coming Olympics at a brief news conference.

"In our countries we are used to having dissent expressed in a way in which it is peaceful," she said, according to the New Zealand Herald website. "If it goes over that boundary then there's always a response but you would have noticed today that we conducted our talks amongst the backdrop of a rather noisy crowd."

Clark said Chinese authorities should deal with any protests with a "measured response" and Rice agreed, saying China should be show- casing not only the Olympics but also "openness and tolerance." Rice said security would be tight but should not be used "as a cover to try and deal with dissent." (dpa)