Thursday September 27, 10:52 PM
Thousands march in anti-war demo in Italian NATO city
NAPLES, Italy, Sept 27 (AFP) -
Thousands of anti-war demonstrators began marching
through the centre of Naples on Thursday to protest a
military build-up and the threat of a global conflict
in the wake of the attacks on the United States.
Around 3,000 anti-globalization and anti-war
demonstrators gathered in the centre of Naples, which
is home to NATO's Southern Command, to lead a march on
the city's municipal headquarters several kilometres
(miles) away.
The protest had been scheduled in Naples when it was
thought that a key NATO meeting would be held in the
city, but although the talks were moved to Brussels,
where they took place on Wednesday, the protesters
decided to maintain their march.
Hundreds of Italian police and carabinieri kept a
close watch on the march, which was expected to
attract up to 15,000 people, but the gathering bore
none of the tension which preceded the rioting that
marred the G8 summit in Genoa in July.
Neither police nor any of the demonstrators wore
protective riot gear, in marked contrast to the Genoa
meeting.
However some demonstrators took the precaution of
wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the phone number of a
lawyer in case of arrest.
The mainly student marchers blew whistles and chanted
anti-war slogans as they set off from Garibaldi
Square, close to the main train station in the port
city.
Those at the front chanted in English "one, two,
three, four ... we don't want another war. Five, six,
seven, eight ... stop the violence, stop the hate."
Many were from left-wing organizations and carried
portraits of Karl Marx and Che Guevara.
One banner, referring to US President George W. Bush
and to fears that a military strike could spark a
retaliatory attack using biological weapons, read:
"Sure, W, we'll suck anthrax, so you can feel tough in
your bunker."
Classics student Tonia Capuano, 17, who handed out
Communist party pamphlets, claimed many demonstrators
had arrived from the northern cities of Turin and
Venice, as well as Rome, and the Sicilian city of
Palermo.
Capuano claimed she would demonstrate anyway against anti-globalisation,
"because that's where the war and the violence comes from". Another
marcher, Giuliano Malet, 25, said: "I feel that war in Afghanistan, or
Pakistan, would only hit poor people." The United States named blamed
Islamic extremists based in Afghanistan as prime suspects for the
September 11 attacks on its territory. Hundreds of demonstrators were
arrested following the Genoa riots, and many were beaten amid widespread
claims of police brutality.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
