The non-violent direct action protest has been coordinated
under 'Fluffy DSEI', a one-off umbrella group bringing
together many groups and individuals who oppose the arms
trade and its impact on communities across the world.

According to John Street, a local resident who opposes the
arms trade, the aim of the peaceful action is simple: 'If
you launch a 'war on terror', you can't then turn around
and allow a huge arms fair to go on - its just
hypocrisy. Which is why we are going to shut down the arms
fair, stop any more arms being sold and expose these
merchants of death to the world'.

Sponsored by the British Government, DSEi (Defence Systems
and Equipment International) is being held at ExCeL, London
Docklands between 9 - 12 September. 25,000 exhibitors
and buyers from approximately 1000 companies and 80
countries will flock to the banks of the Thames to buy and
sell guns, bombs, military planes, small arms, mines and
tanks.

Anti-arms trade campaigners are particularly keen to
highlight the invitation to countries renowned for human
rights abuses such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and
so-called terrorist states like Syria, one of the countries
listed by US President George Bush in his 'axis of evil'.

Susan Shaw, a local care worker who works with refugees and
asylum-seekers in Newham, believes the government's
hypocrisy is breathtaking: 'How can David Blunkett talk
about too many asylum-seekers and refugees when this
government is openly sponsoring the sale of weapons that
force families to flee war-torn countries and come to
Britain in search of refuge?'

The last DSEI arms fair at London Docklands took place
between 11-14 September 2001 under the shadow of the
terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Controversially, the arms fair was not halted and countries
including America, Israel and 14 different Arab nations
continued to shop, side-by-side, for weapons to attack each
other with.

Fluffy DSEI is part of the week-long protests being
coordinated under DISARM DSEi, an umbrella organisation of
over 50 groups working together to expose and protest the
arms fair, the companies exhibiting there, the buyers and
the governments that fund the show.

Notes for Editors

1. DISARM DSEi is an umbrella organisation currently
representing over 50 groups who are coordinating a week of
protest and resistance against the arms fair, the companies
that exhibit there, the buyers and the governments that pay
for the whole show. DISARM DSEi will run from 6 – 12
September.

2. The full list of supporting groups of Disarm DSEi at
this time: Anarchist Federation, Anarchist Youth Network,
CAAT, Cambridge Students Against War, Camden STW, Cardiff
Anarchist Network, Carnivalistas, CND, D10, Destroy DSEi,
Disobedience, East London Against the Arms Fair, Espacio
Horizontal contra la Guerra, Fluffy DSEi, Globalise
Resistance, Global Women's Strike, Gluaiseacht, Hackney
Refugee and Migrant Support Group, Hackney Socialist
Alliance, Hackney STW, Hastings CND, Humlar Kultur, Leeds
Coalition Against War, London Greens, London International
Socialist Resistance, London Region CND, London Rising
Tide, LSE People & Planet, Merseyside STW, National Young
Greens, Nihilist Assault Group, Oxford People & Planet,
Reclaim the Streets, Revo, Rhythms of Resistance, Sheffield
Samba, SOAS People & Planet, SOAS STW, Socialist Alliance,
Socialist Resistance, Stop the War Coalition, Surrey
Anarchist Group, Surrey DISARM DSEi, Tower Hamlets STW, War
On Capitalism, West Midlands Anarchists, Wicca UK,
Wildfire, WOMBLES, Women in Black, Workers Power, Youth &
Student CND.

3. The arms business in the UK harms local communities. The
London borough of Newham, where DSEi is taking place, is
one of the poorest in the country. The people of Newham do
not want this fair for weapons of death to come into their
community. They want better education, health and job
creation.

4. The UK government is contributing £1.5 million of
taxpayer's money to this arms fair, mostly to pay for the
1,600 police officers that will be on duty guarding the
ExCeL centre.

5. The World spent $795 billion on military spending last
year (an increase of 6% or $47bn on the previous year,
because of the so-called 'War on Terror'). Western
Governments routinely use Arms Sales to prop up dreadful
regimes in return for oil or mineral wealth (e.g. in
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia), thus putting greed above any
regard for human rights.

6. Britain is currently the world's second biggest weapons
exporter. Since 1997, Tony Blair's government has allowed
arms sales to 21 countries fighting serious wars, fuelled
the bitter conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo by
allowing weapons-sales to countries involved, and gives
hundreds of millions of pounds to arms exporters every year
(around £1 billion in year 2000). This amounts to an
£11,000 subsidy per year to each job in the arms export
industry. Bush and Blair have so far spent $71 Billion on
their illegal war of aggression against Iraq and the
subsequent occupation.

7. The following websites contain a wealth of information
on the arms trade and the forthcoming DSEI Arms Fair and
protests: www.dsei.org, www.caat.org, www.indymedia.org.uk