>From: David Muller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Over 100 Arrested in Iraq Protest at > US White House > >WASHINGTON: (South News) August 7 - Chanting "stop the sanctions now!" and >carrying a water purifier that U.S. policy forbids being sent to Iraq, a >few hundred people demonstrated outside the White House on Monday, and 104 >were arrested after they sat on the sidewalk and refused to move. > >Demonstrators armed with signs like ``Sanctions are Mass Murder'' and >``Sanctions Suck the Life out of Countries'' gathered in Lafayette Park >across from the White House to deplore the economic sanctions placed on >Iraq by the United Nations. > >Some protesters crossed Pennsylvania Avenue to attach signs including >``Stop Sanctions Now!'' and ``US has killed 1.7 million Iraqis for oil'' to >the black iron fence ringing the White House and to stand on the sidewalk >in front of the mansion, violating a ban on such stationary protests. >Police loaded the protesters, their hands tied behind their backs with >flexible plastic cuffs, onto arrest wagons and took them to a station > >Earlier the demonstrators carried the water purifier to the steps of the >Treasury Department Annex off Lafayette Square. The department enforces >rules against commerce in such technology to Iraq. "Why, why, why?" the >protesters asked, standing inches from uniformed members of the Secret >Service, who replied simply, "The doors are closed." > >The demonstrators said the purifer and others like it, which can chlorinate >1 million gallons of water a day, will be delivered to Iraq by sympathetic >people traveling there, with a Non governmental Organization - NGO >overseeing installation and monitoring its use in Iraq. > >Four water-purifyiers and $7,000 worth of chlorine gas are to be donated to >the 28th of April orphanage, the Dar Aytam orphanage, the Islamic Health >Center and the Islamic Youth Center all in Baghdad. > >The demonstrators carried a banner with the names of 1,000 people in a >"campaign of conscience" who are donating money to support such exports, in >violation of U.S. law. They risk civil fines up to $275,000 per violation >and criminal penalties up to $1 million and/or 12 years in prison by >donating money and supplies to the Iraqi people. > >Leaving the treasury annex, they marched to Pennsylvania Avenue NW in front >of the White House. Those who wanted to risk arrest sat down next to the >fence protecting the White House grounds. After three warnings from U.S. >Park Police officers, they were arrested and charged with misdemeanors of >demonstrating without a permit or demonstrating in a restricted area, >according a Park Police spokesman. Three were also charged with damaging >government property for splashing a red liquid they called "blood" on the >sidewalk. > >Those arrested included Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of the Catholic Archdiocese >of Detroit, the Rev. John Dear, a Jesuit peace activist, and the Rev. Jim >Lawson Jr., a retired United Methodist pastor who recently visited Iraq. > >It was the second day of demonstrations in Washington by a coalition of >peace activists and clergy calling attention to conditions in Iraq after 10 >years of sanctions imposed after the Gulf War. The protesters said more >than 1 million Iraqis have died from lack of medical supplies or have been >killed in bombing to enforce the no-fly zone. Many of those who have died >have been children, according to the protesters. > >The sanctions were initially put into place to help evict Iraqi troops from >Kuwait, according to the Bush administration. Iraq had invaded Kuwait, an >oil-rich territory under the domination of an U.S.-backed monarchy, in >August 1990, after a protracted and complicated dispute between the two >countries. > >Since the sanctions have been imposed United Nations International >Children's Emergency Fund - UNICEF estimates that more than a half million >children under the age of five have died as a direct result of the economic >sanctions. > > Spirit of anti-Vietnam War in Iraq protest > >On Sunday the spirit of the anti-Vietnam War movement was revisited in the >US capital as thousands of Americans, singing old anti-war songs, gathered >in front of the White House to protest sanctions against Iraq. > >"Stop the sanctions now!" chanted the crowd in Lafayette Square as folk >song legend and long-time peace activist Pete Seeger played the banjo and >sang "Down by the Riverside," a time-honoured hymn of the Vietnam War >generation. > >An estimated 10,000 people braved driving rain to vent their frustration >with the United States, Britain and other western powers, which led >international efforts 10 years ago today to impose sweeping UN sanctions >against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. > >President Clinton was not at the White House yesterday and the protesters' >stand-in was a no-show. Martin Sheen, the actor who plays President Josiah >Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing," was to be on hand, said rally organizers, >but his flight from Los Angeles was canceled. Sheen is one of a group of >entertainers involved in the movement, which also attracted veteran protest >singer Pete Seeger, who sang his trademark peace songs. > >The Washington rally was one of a few around the world over the weekend to >protest the sanctions, imposed by the U.N. Security Council on Aug. 6, >1990. > >In international shows of support yesterday, four American activists began >a three-day fast outside the United Nations offices in Baghdad and a >protester partially climbed a 450-foot-high millennium memorial in London. >In Los Angeles, religious groups are preparing protests against the >sanctions and other causes during next week's Democratic National >Convention. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- >Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! >1. Fill in the brief application >2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds >3. 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