The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: hugh <justice@easynet.co.uk> Campaign Against Sanctions and War on Iraq (CASWI) (for details see end) 0171 436 4636 ======================================== ALBRIGHT NOT WELCOME IN LONDON! Monday, 9th March 1998. London, Britain. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today faced angry protests on her arrival for bi-lateral talks with Foreign Secretary Robin Cook MP. The protesters included a group of students from Oxford University, religious campaigners including representatives of the Bruderhof communities, members of London's Arab community, and other concerned members of the public. Albright and Cook were forced to stand in embarrassed silence before the international press 'photo opportunity' while protesters chanted slogans against the war threats and sanctions blockade on Iraq, and then had to listen while CASWI Co-ordinator Hugh Stephens addressed them with the following statement, which was recorded by a number of the TV and radio stations in the full and clear hearing of Albright and Cook themselves: "Madeleine Albright first made her mark upon world public opinion by remarking that the death of more than half a million children in Iraq is "worth it" to control the region. What irony that someone who utters such sentiments about children dying in their mothers' arms for lack of medicine and nutrition should arrive for talks on the day following International Women's Day! "Further, she has, along with other US and British leaders, systematically misrepresented the situation regarding the United Nations and international law, and has fostered the false claim that it would be 'legal' under existing UN Security Council resolutions for the US and Britain to attack Iraq any time they feel this would be in their 'national interests'. "This is precisely the kind of behaviour which the entire structure of post-war international law was designed to prevent. It amounts to making a statement of criminal intent to breach the international peace. Robin Cook, who is a lawyer, knows this perfectly well and should dissociate himself from this US standpoint immediately. "We call on all the international media who are attending today's press conferences to raise these questions with Albright and Cook, and not accept prevarication from them. Do they or do they not make the false claim that attacks on Iraq would now automatically be sanctioned under existing Security Council resolutions? Demand clear answers. Do not accept prevarication. Inform your readers and viewers of the truth." Passers-by took leaflets from the protesters, and a number of reporters interviewed the students and others on the demonstration. The Campaign Against Sanctions and War on Iraq (CASWI) is a grass roots campaigning network. For further information, phone: 0171 436 4636 ======================================== Campaign Against Sanctions and War on Iraq (CASWI) For further information, contact the Co-ordinator, Hugh Stephens, at: Phone: [44] 171 436 4636 Fax: [44] 171 436 4638 E-Mail: justice@easynet.co.uk Address: BM 2966 London WC1N 3XX Britain Donations: Make cheques out to "ICIES" -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html