Hundreds of Citizen Inspectors enter Air base Volkel looking for weapons of mass destruction
Inpsectors gained access with own keys
P R E S S R E L E A S E
From the Dutch Platform against 'the new war'Volkel, January 18th 2003 - Several hundreds of peace activists have held a demonstration at Volkel military air base in the south east of the Netherlands today. Around one hundred more cut through the perimiter fences of the air base to inspect the presence of weapons of mass destruction present there. Some inspection teams even used their own keys to enter the several gates at the base.
Before the start of the inspections several padlocks were seemingly replaced by new ones. The inspection teams had the fitting keys on them.
The protesters inspect the presence of weapons of mass destruction, which are, according to investigations of several peace groups, present at the base under US supervision.
Around fifty protesters who entered the base were arrested. The inspectors came from all over Europe, ranging from Finland to the UK, to Belgium.
At the start of the inspections a protest rally was held at the main gate. Speakers came from the Dutch Green Left (Farah Karimi) and Socialist Party (Nico Schouten).
The protests are initiated by the Stop the War Coaltion Netherlands, a broad gathering of about 200 Dutch peace groups.
The initiative is in synch with demonstrations held in the US, where January 18th is Martin Luther King day, a national anti war day. Around the globe more groups are supporting the protests with demonstrations, pickets and civil inspections.
Core reason for these global actions is the strange fact that the US government demands of Irak to show all they have in relation to weapons of mass destruction, while they themselves keep their own information and arms top secret. If Irak has to openly show their weapons and their plans, so should the US, and with them all governments supporting the US claims and policy, accouring to the Dutch Anti New War group.
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