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Anti-Iraq-war groups target Bechtel headquarters http://tinyurl.com/di81 By Andrea Orr SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (Reuters) - International construction giant Bechtel Group Inc., which is playing a key role in rebuilding Iraq, has become the object of renewed protests this week with demonstrators threatening to close down the privately held company's headquarters for a day. Groups of protesters who fanned out across churches, yoga studios and subway stations in San Francisco in recent days, will culminate their "week of action against Bechtel and the corporate invasion of Iraq" on Thursday with a demonstration outside of the company's corporate headquarters. Direct Action to Stop the War, the San Francisco group leading the protests, says Thursday's demonstration will be peaceful but will be aimed at shutting down the Bechtel office, which employs about 1,000 people. Bechtel, one of the world's largest construction companies, in April won a contract worth up to $680 million to repair Iraq's electricity system, water supplies and other key infrastructure. Although the contract is not one of the largest for Bechtel, which in the past has worked on building entire cities in the Arabian desert, protesters say they fear Bechtel's work in Iraq will put it in a position to profit unfairly from the country's natural resources. They are particularly concerned about Bechtel controlling the country's water supply. "I think that if the war is a struggle for what Iraq is going to look like, then it is far from over," said Joshua Clover, an activist with Direct Action to Stop the War. "If this kind of profiteering off the war goes unchallenged, they are going to drive another war." Direct Action, which maintains Bechtel won the lucrative Iraq contracts by way of political connections rather than a fair bidding process, is seeking to raise public awareness of what it says is Bechtel's spotty record of work in other developing countries. In particular, it is highlighting the company's work three years ago in Bolivia, where it was brought in to help the government privatize the country's water system. The privatization brought sharply higher water prices to some residents, resulting in violent protests and Bechtel's contract was ultimately rescinded. Bechtel disputes that it was a factor in the protests, which resulted in some deaths, but also says that its record in Bolivia has nothing to do with its work in Iraq. It notes that it has been hired to rebuild a water system and has not been involved in any discussions about privatization. "I would say that Bolivia and Iraq are quite unrelated issues," said Bechtel spokesman Jonathan Marshall. "One involved operating a utility for a government, the other is rebuilding the physical infrastructure on behalf of the Iraqi people." "We're proud of our work in Iraq," he said, adding that right now, "Iraqi children are drinking and swimming in sewage water." ((Reporting by Andrea Orr; editing by Eric Walsh; Reuters Messaging: andrea.orr.reuters.com@reuters.net, San Francisco newsroom, (415) 677-2578)) © Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions. _______________________________________________ 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