riot outside EU war meeting in Greece
msnbc | 07.10.2002 12:29
Anti-US protestors clash with Greek police on Iraq
RETHYMNO, Greece, Oct. 5 — Demonstrators protesting against a possible U.S. strike on Iraq clashed with police on Saturday a few hundred metres (yards) away from a meeting by European Union defence ministers on the Greek island of Crete.
Police said the clashes erupted when about 300 leftists and self-styled anarchists carrying anti-war banners tried to break through a police checkpoint blocking access to a hotel in the seaside town of Rethymno, where the informal EU ministerial meeting was taking place.
''Don't bomb Iraq,'' read many of the banners, written in eight different languages.
Police said one man was slightly hurt in the clashes and there were no arrests.
U.S. President George W. Bush is lobbying for a tougher U.N. resolution against Iraq, saying President Saddam Hussein should be removed because he is trying to build an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Iraq denies the charges and recently agreed to let U.N. arms inspectors into Iraq to search for illegal weapons.
Most European countries, apart from Britain, oppose the U.S. stand on Iraq.
Hundreds of Greek police, armed with batons and wearing gas masks, had lined up along the main road outside the seaside town to prevent the rally from reaching the ministerial meeting.
Police agreed to allow three protestors through to deliver a protest letter against the war to Greek defence officials.
The rest of the demonstrators ignored calls to disperse and moved forward towards the police line, shouting, ''No more blood for oil.'' The protesters hurled stones, glass bottles and wooden sticks at police, slightly injuring a cameraman, as police fought them back with batons.
''We told them they could not go through to the hotel but they tried anyway and we had orders to stop them,'' a local police official told Reuters. ''There was no way they could be allowed to approach the meeting,'' he said.
''The EU will not get rid of us that easily. See you at the summit in Thessaloniki,'' one protester said, referring to the northern Greek city hosting the EU summit in spring 2003.
Greece, which will hold the EU's rotating six-month presidency from January 1, chaired Saturday's meeting as it already presides over the 15-nation bloc's security and defence policy. Denmark, currently holding the EU presidency, had opted out of chairing it.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters10-05-055140.asp?reg=EUROPE
RETHYMNO, Greece, Oct. 5 — Demonstrators protesting against a possible U.S. strike on Iraq clashed with police on Saturday a few hundred metres (yards) away from a meeting by European Union defence ministers on the Greek island of Crete.
Police said the clashes erupted when about 300 leftists and self-styled anarchists carrying anti-war banners tried to break through a police checkpoint blocking access to a hotel in the seaside town of Rethymno, where the informal EU ministerial meeting was taking place.
''Don't bomb Iraq,'' read many of the banners, written in eight different languages.
Police said one man was slightly hurt in the clashes and there were no arrests.
U.S. President George W. Bush is lobbying for a tougher U.N. resolution against Iraq, saying President Saddam Hussein should be removed because he is trying to build an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Iraq denies the charges and recently agreed to let U.N. arms inspectors into Iraq to search for illegal weapons.
Most European countries, apart from Britain, oppose the U.S. stand on Iraq.
Hundreds of Greek police, armed with batons and wearing gas masks, had lined up along the main road outside the seaside town to prevent the rally from reaching the ministerial meeting.
Police agreed to allow three protestors through to deliver a protest letter against the war to Greek defence officials.
The rest of the demonstrators ignored calls to disperse and moved forward towards the police line, shouting, ''No more blood for oil.'' The protesters hurled stones, glass bottles and wooden sticks at police, slightly injuring a cameraman, as police fought them back with batons.
''We told them they could not go through to the hotel but they tried anyway and we had orders to stop them,'' a local police official told Reuters. ''There was no way they could be allowed to approach the meeting,'' he said.
''The EU will not get rid of us that easily. See you at the summit in Thessaloniki,'' one protester said, referring to the northern Greek city hosting the EU summit in spring 2003.
Greece, which will hold the EU's rotating six-month presidency from January 1, chaired Saturday's meeting as it already presides over the 15-nation bloc's security and defence policy. Denmark, currently holding the EU presidency, had opted out of chairing it.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters10-05-055140.asp?reg=EUROPE
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