From: Rusty�Bullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Observer 25.2.01 On 18 March, 500,000 rural protesters are expected to march through London. While they're away, animal rights activists are threatening to attack their homes Chaos and class war looms as country heads for the capital Special investigaton by Paul Harris THEY will come in their hundreds of thousands, draining the countryside of people. Travelling by land, air and sea, up to 500,000 people are expected to descend on London next month for the biggest peace-time demonstration Britain has ever seen. But The Observer can today reveal that extremist groups opposed to blood sports are planning to wreak havoc on the property of members of the Countryside Alliance when they leave their homes and begin their march through the capital on 19 March. Amid police fears of major disturbances, extremists are planning to publicise the names and addresses of 200 leading hunters on the Internet, and pass on these details to the Justice Department, a shadowy group linked to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). 'That should make them think,' one source close to the group told The Observer. Members of the group are believed to have carried out an attack on investigative journalist Graham Hall, who had the letters ALF branded on his back. Since being founded in 1993, the Justice Department has conducted postal bombing campaigns and sent letters containing rat-poison coated razors and dried HIV infected blood to targets. ALF activists are also planning to attack marchers' houses and farms. The attacks could involve firebombs or vandalism and would be aimed at marchers with specific links to hunting. `Any house or property relating to a bloodsport would be considered a legitimate target,' said Robin Webb, a spokesman for the ALF. `I believe they [the blood sports enthusiasts] are terribly wrong and should not be allowed to continue their barbaric pursuits.' So concerned is the Alliance about the threat, that supporters have been advised to inform the police if their houses or farms will be empty. It has also advised members to check under their cars for bombs and to be aware of letter-bombs. Rural police forces will be on special alert on the day itself, and the Alliance has organised teams of supporters to stay at home during the march to try to prevent attacks. Although the Alliance has billed the march as an event staged to highlight a range of issues affecting country life, at its core lies the issue of government plans to ban fox hunting. Tony Blair promised to ban hunting with horses for foxes. But faced with overwhelming opposition from, the countryside lobby, there have been hints that the legislatiori may watered down or that fliers will not be enough parliamentary time to introduce a ban. Last week's outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the first since 1967, had threatened to disrupt the plans for the march, with many people in rural areas reluctant to risk spreading the disease further. But the organisers believe that the outbreak will be contained in isolated areas and the march will go on. Of the hundreds of organisations listed as official supporters of the march, both in Britain and overseas, the overwhelming majority are linked to hunting and it is that which makes the march the potentially deadly target of animal rights extremists. The police operation over the march weekend will be massive. The intelligence gathering on people and groups opposed to the march will be stepped up and all leave has been cancelled for City of London police on the day itself. `At the moment we don't expect there to be any serious threat to public order,' said a Scotland Yard spokesman, but privately some officers admit that the situation has the potential to get out of hand. `It could go really bad,' said one police source. Along the route, 2,000 police officers and more than 1,500 stewards from the Alliance itself will try to keep the peace. They will monitor all traffic arriving in London. Special Branch teams will follow anyone they suspect of wanting to instigate violence and will seek to remove potential troublemakers as soon as they see them and before any serious outbreaks of violence can occur. Prime targets of the antihunting lobby will be rightwing infiltrators in the march, mainly those from the British National Party. During the 1998 march, several hundred BNP supporters joined the protest and distributed right-wing literature. BNP activists are hoping for a repeat performance. Leading figures from the party, which advocates the repatriation of non-whites, intend to join the march, including the BNP leader Nick Griffin. `We have got lots of members of the BNP who are also members of the Alliance. Our presence will not be officially as the BNP, just as people concerned about the countryside,' said BNP spokesman Philip Edwards, an Alliance member who plans to join the march. David Handley, who leads Farmers For Action, came to the fore as one of the prime movers behind last autumn's fuel protests. He is hoping the march could herald the beginning of a new phase of direct action that could resurrect the protests that almost brought the country to a halt. Handley and other FFA members are planning to camp overnight in Hyde Park. `We will be bringing our sleeping bags and we won't be leaving. We need to make a stand,' he said. If such an attempt is made, against the wishes of the Alliance, he is almost certain to be arrested. For Handley it will not be the first time: he is already on bail after a similar action outside a dairy in Gloucestershire. Certainly the mood among farmers planning to join the march is angry. `We have just had enough. People in the farming community are just at the end of their tether with this Government,' said Richard Haddock, a Devonshire farmer. Haddock and a dozen or so other farming activists were behind the weeks of chaos that gripped Britain during the fuel blockade. Many have told The Observer that private meetings have already been held to kick off the protests again in the wake of the march. They aim to focus on the general election campaign, with groups of farmers specifically targeting members of the Cabinet, whom they intend to follow around the country. At public meetings they will heckle the politicians and disrupt their attempts to go canvassing. The farmers also plan to disrupt dairies, supermarket supply depots and possibly the rail network and motorways. `It surprised us last time how easily we could bring this country to a halt. I am convinced we can do it again just as easily,' said one senior farming activist. For these farmers the Alliance march will not be seen as an end in itself, but as the beginning of a prolonged effort to protest and disrupt. 'This march isn't going to be a one-off event. We are going to use it as a springboard,' said one. ______________________________________________ It all makes you wonder if Porton Down have had any unusual requests from MI6 of late. http://www.dera.gov.uk/html/whoweare/history/porton_down.htm Rusty -- Personally I think if the ALF did attack people's property it would be massively counter-productive for them. Yes, it will make people think - it will make them think that they are a bunch of loonies. Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
