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Hi list, check this out, especially the following: ...He said the five who had been told to leave had set themselves up as representatives of the group and had been "holding unnecessary meetings, wasting time, knocking on doors at midnight...(and) asking stupid questions"... http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/4005878 06 Mar 2003 18:37 Iraq sends five Western human shields home By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD, March 6 (Reuters) - Iraq ordered five human shields out of the country on Thursday after a dispute over where the Western peace activists should deploy to deter possible U.S. military strikes. Accusing them of undermining the "noble and courageous" spirit of other volunteers, senior Iraqi official Abdul-Razzaq al-Hashimi told a heated meeting of about 100 human shields in Baghdad that the five should leave by Friday. It was the latest setback to the high-profile mission to Iraq by peace activists whose visit has been plagued by infighting, illness and a broken-down red London bus. "Out of concern for the success of the noble cause you are here for, and so as not to let a few people in the group undermine this beautiful activity, I'm very sorry to say that I'm asking the five people to leave," Hashimi told the meeting. He said the five who had been told to leave had set themselves up as representatives of the group and had been "holding unnecessary meetings, wasting time, knocking on doors at midnight...(and) asking stupid questions". "We appreciate very much that you are here, but the rules of the house have to be respected," he said. Activists at the meeting said the row centred on a disagreement over who should decide where they should deploy. Some had wanted to station themselves in hospitals or schools but were told instead to go to power stations. Former U.S. marine Ken O'Keefe, one of those ordered to leave, said it was "absolutely unacceptable that human shields would arrive and immediately be taken to sites without our knowledge". O'Keefe, whose Human Shield Action Iraq group coordinated the departure of dozens of volunteers from London six weeks ago, said Hashimi's decision would ensure that many other human shields would be leaving Baghdad too. "It's just a shame that there may be Iraqi lives that could be lost as a result of numbers diminishing," he told Reuters. One of the red double-decker buses which ferried O'Keefe and other human shields to Baghdad broke down en route from London. Two more are now stranded in Lebanon, with their owner needing $5,500 to ship them home. Some volunteers fell ill on the journey and dozens more have since left Iraq, saying they had wanted to protect hospitals and schools but had been forced out to refineries, power plants and water works. But others said they would not quit. "We planned to be here and we intend to stay here," British volunteer Karl Dallas told Hashimi to applause from the meeting. Dallas said it was reasonable for Iraq to want the shields to defend power plants because hospitals and schools were over-stretched and could not cope with visitors. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: theiraqijokers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk