POLICE in body armour were drafted in to stop a small group of activists
who tried to storm the perimeter fence of the US spy base at Menwith Hill,
near Harrogate, during a day of anti-war protests across Britain on Saturday.
The confrontation, with what police described as "a tiny minority" of the
more than 1,000 protesters who joined the demonstration outside the base,
led to a dozen arrests.
It came after more than two hours of peaceful protest during which
demonstrators launched metal foil kites and balloons in an attempt to
disrupt satellite signals to and from Menwith Hill which they claim has a
key role in the war on Iraq. More than 100 police officers from South,
North and West Yorkshire, Durham and the Humber region were on duty outside
the perimeter fence while inside there was a huge Ministry of Defence
Police presence.
The attempt to breach the fence came during what the organisers described
as a "tour of the base" � a march along public roads around the 4-mile
perimeter of Menwith Hill to the accompaniment of samba bands.
Earlier, the demonstrators from across the North gathered outside the
base's main gates to hear speeches from anti-war activists.
Organiser Neil Kingsnorth, of Yorkshire CND, said: "The satellite data
coming in here will be and is being used to pinpoint targets in Iraq for
bombs and missiles. We are trying to disrupt the planning of bombing in future.
He added: "The powerful message to the Government is that the opposition to
this war is not going to lie down simply because the war has started."
North Yorkshire's Deputy Chief Constable Peter Walker said: "This has been
an extremely successful police operation. The work of RAF Menwith Hill was
not disrupted, the protesters were able to make their point freely and
safely and all officers involved behaved impeccably as you would expect."
He said the protest organisers had been satisfied with the smooth and
overwhelmingly peaceful running of the event.
"The only disappointment has been the behaviour of a tiny minority who
tried to take advantage of the situation. They failed in their efforts to
breach the perimeter and we dealt with them," he added.
Police said about 600 demonstrators had gathered for a "good-natured" march
through Sheffield city centre on Saturday.
In Leeds, 200 anti-war demonstrators marched through the city centre on the
same day, though they denied that the small scale of the protest indicated
that opposition to the war was dwindling.
Trevor Bavage, of Leeds Stop the War Coalition, said: "There's been
protests all over the country and we expect them to increase as people see
what's going on in Iraq."
Several hundred people attended a peaceful demonstration in Bradford's
Centenary Square on Saturday, where Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Muslim
prayers for peace were read by children.
A spokeswoman for Bradford Stop the War Coalition said: "Bradford gets a
lot of bad press but this was a very special event. When something really
counts, the tide is turning and people are very much standing together."
Methodist minister Geoff Reid accused politicians of moral blackmail by
urging people to support the troops now war has started.
He said: "As a citizen I have every right to say that what was immoral and
politically and legally wrong last week is just as wrong this week."
Police in riot gear were called into central London on Saturday night when
anti-war protesters blocked Oxford Street after leaving a demonstration
involving 200,000 people in Hyde Park. Ten arrests were made.
In Glasgow, 400 people were penned in on Sauchiehall Street for several
hours by police, some on horseback, and two demonstrators were arrested for
minor offences.
Five protesters were arrested for minor offences at RAF Fairford in
Gloucestershire, where the US B-52 bombers are based.
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