Anti-Nato Demo in Prague get nasty
gaston | 21.11.2002 03:40
> Situation here looks like Science Fiction ..
> Well arrive ,a lot of controle but no probleme at
the border .. Took me a will to find some anarchist in
town ...Every
> body
> is hiding till tomorrow ..The town is absolutly full
> of soldiers , I'm staying in one small appartement
> in
> town .. Full of young people , exited and afraid of
> what could happend tomorrow .. Lukuly I got a
> slipping
> bag to sleep .. it 's prety cold up here .. Not so
> much to eat but a lot to drink .. Probably good
> discussion .. But I'm the only foreigner with 3 guy
> from Poland .. They are all listening to the radio
> and
> talking loud in tcheck ..I heard some french are in
town .. I
> try to join them tomorrow .. Hum .. sound like
> revolution ... but we are probably all going to get
> arrest tomorrow .. Anyway I love to be with this
> kids
> ..
> See you later aligator
> " Nasty Gasty "
> P.S / The only report I had in English are from Indy
> ..
>
> The NATO summit scheduled to take place this week,
> November 21-22, in the Czech capital of Prague has
> been accompanied by a massive security operation.
> For
> the first time, a NATO summit will take place in a
> country that once formed part of the dismantled
> Soviet
> bloc. Forty-six heads of state are expected to
> attend,
> including US President George W. Bush.
>
> An army of some 20,000 advisors and officials will
> accompany the heads of state for two days of talks
> at
> the Prague congress centre. The main items on the
> agenda are the expansion of NATO to include a number
> of additional Eastern European countries, and the
> establishment of new NATO combat forces. Against the
> background of a growing threat of war against Iraq
> and
> simmering tensions between Europe and the US,
> conference organisers are determined to avoid any
> disruption by anti-war and anti-NATO demonstrators.
>
> Two years ago, large anti-globalization
> demonstrations
> forced delegates attending the IMF conference in
> Prague to break off their proceedings and go home
> early. Czech officials and conference organisers,
> working closely with American intelligence and NATO
> military command structures, have gone to enormous
> lengths to ensure there will be no repeat of the
> embarrassing events of autumn 2000.
>
> In justifying the enormous security precautions,
> Czech
> politicians and the media have created a climate of
> fear around the conference. Gabriela Bartikova of
> the
> Czech Interior Ministry warned that precautions were
> necessary because of the potential for terrorist
> attacks. The head of the Czech chancellery told the
> Prague daily Pravo that those in charge of the
> conference were proceeding on the basis that
> possible
> acts of terrorism could involve weapons of mass
> destruction.
>
> More than 12,000 police, including 3,000 commandos
> (SEK), will control the streets of Prague. The
> police
> and troops have already undergone extensive training
> at special camps, rehearsing for clashes with
> demonstrators. Snipers have selected prime positions
> on city rooftops and will be operating throughout
> the
> week. The Czech army is installing rocket launchers
> in
> strategic positions as an additional precaution.
> Police are also planning to temporarily close
> Prague’s main thoroughfare, which passes close
> by the Congress centre, thus preventing
> demonstrators
> from nearing the complex.
>
> Referring to the disturbances of two years ago,
> Czech
> Interior Minister Stanislav Gross declared that his
> troops “will not allow themselves to be beaten
> this time around.”
>
> American intelligence and military forces have
> heavily
> reinforced Czech security precautions. In recent
> months, top US officials have chided European
> governments for investing inadequate resources in
> military budgets.
>
> In an ostentatious display of the overwhelming
> superiority enjoyed by the US in the sphere of
> military technology, American F-16 and F-15
> fighter-bombers backed by an AWACS
> command-and-control
> radar plane will guard the airspace over the summit.
> According to Radio Prague, the US has also provided
> free of charge to the Czech air force 150 sidewinder
> air-to-air missiles for use in their own L-159
> fighter
> planes.
>
> In addition to the Czech police forces on the
> ground,
> 2,000 FBI agents and 250 specially trained US
> soldiers
> will also be deployed in the city during the summit.
>
>
> Meanwhile, an enormous surveillance and control
> operation has been established to restrict entry
> into
> the Czech Republic during the week of the
> conference.
> Various embassies are warning of the significant
> delays and obstacles confronting those seeking to
> travel to or in the Czech Republic.
>
> Following newspaper announcements that anti-NATO
> demonstrators were planning to establish a base camp
> for their activities in the German city of Dresden
> (two hours from Prague), a speaker for the state
> government of Saxony warned demonstrators to
> reconsider any plans to travel to the Czech capital.
> The Interior Ministry of Saxony is collaborating
> with
> police to collect information on potentially
> “disruptive” elements and would consider
> banning such persons from crossing the German-Czech
> border.
>
> Ordinary Prague citizens and small businesses have
> expressed dissatisfaction with the enormous police
> and
> military presence in their city on the eve of the
> NATO
> meeting. Prague is still recovering from the affects
> of disastrous floods that hit the city recently and
> badly affected the tourist industry. Now incomes and
> commercial sales will be further cut by the
> disruptions arising from the NATO summit.
>
> Anti-NATO protesters held a demonstration yesterday
> to
> mark the opening of the summit, and have planned an
> international day of action against the summit for
> November 21.
>
> ============================================
>
> NATO: Despite Security Checks, Protesters Flow Into
> Prague
> By Ron Synovitz
> Prague, 19 November 2002 (RFE/RL)
>
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/11/19112002175000.asp
>
>
>
> Activists and self-declared anarchists have been
> passing through tightened security at the Czech
> borders to travel to the capital Prague to protest
> at
> this week's NATO summit.
>
> Despite increased security on the borders of the
> Czech
> Republic aimed at keeping demonstrators away from
> this
> week's NATO summit in Prague, hundreds of foreign
> activists have been slipping into the country in
> small
> groups and are converging in the Czech capital.
>
> Small groups of newly arriving activists can be seen
> in pubs, youth centers, and empty buildings across
> the
> city.
gaston
e-mail:
gastonbesson@yahoo.com
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