Leaders of the 8 most powerful nations will be meeting on Thursday and Friday at the French seaside town of Deauville in Normandy for an annual summit amidst very tight security.

The G8, composed of heads of United States, Japan, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Russia, will discuss broad economic policy matters. The European Commission has also been represented in all the sessions since the Ottawa Summit in 1981.

This year's host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is reportedly mobilizing over 12,000 police, gendarmes and troops to protect the leaders of the world's most powerful economies.

Some 18,000 people are expected to descend on Deauville including governmental ministers, diplomats and other representatives who will attend the G8 gatherings.

A temporary no-fly zone and a maritime exclusion zone will be established. Deauville Saint-Gatien airport and the ports of Deauville and Trouville-sur-Mer will be closed throughout the two-day event.

An army of elite special forces has a command post on a hill overlooking the city. The police will patrol the hills around the town on horseback and mountain bikes. Access will only be given to participants, journalists, inhabitants and workers. Access to residents will be based on presentation of a badge provided by the Deauville police station.

The summit is always considered the biggest annual economic gathering as the G8 countries, account for 65% of the world's gross domestic product, although they account only for 15% of the world's population.

The Deauville meeting is expected to cover the response of the major powers to the Arab upheaval, the NATO war in Libya, the war in Afghanistan, and the replacement of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the IMF. French Finance and Economy Minister Christina lagarde is touted to replace Strauss-Kahn.

President Sarkozy had extended a special invitation to Tunisia and Egypt so that the G8 could devise aid needs for Egypt and Tunisia that would help them "face their economic difficulties".

Nuclear safety is also expected to be included in the G8 talks in light of the latest nuclear tragedy that hit Japan.