http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1036519,00.html

London police braced for violent protests at Europe's biggest arms fair

Rebecca Allison
Saturday September 6, 2003
The Guardian

Anti-terrorist police will be part of a £1m policing operation in London's Docklands next week to protect Europe's largest defence exhibition amid concerns that demonstrations by anti- arms trade activists and anarchists could turn into riots.

More than 60 different groups have pledged to challenge what many have dubbed "the death fair", which opens for business on Tuesday at the Excel centre and is supported by the Ministry of Defence.

Most have pledged to target the event peacefully but police are concerned about groups who have posted plans on the internet which urge people to blockade and storm the venue on September 10 as part of a day of "wildcat" direct action.

The huge security operation, costing more than £1m, includes the deployment of 2,000 officers from the Metropolitan police and 300 British Transport police officers around the site, as well as 25 MoD police inside the exhibition.

Scotland Yard will also use tactics resorted to at this year's May Day protests, including the use of plainclothes detectives who can spot known troublemakers early on, specialist dog and horse units, and surveillance teams.

Andy Trotter, the Met's deputy assistant commissioner, said: "Our concern would be if the demonstration turns into riots or damage and we have got to be prepared to deal with that. We are anxious and we have concerns that a number of organisations may well come along."

Describing the previous event in September 2001 as "testing", he said: "There was a lot of pushing and shoving that was beginning to turn quite violent within the crowd. That is what we want to prevent this time.

"We are there to keep the peace and allow lawful protest, while being prepared for anything else that might turn up."

Defending the decision to deploy the anti-terrorist branch for the exhibition, which runs for four days and coincides with the second anniversary of September 11, he said: "They must be there because of the nature of the event. Any event in the capital will get that sort of attention from us. It is part of our contingency plans.

"If you look at the location, the type of event it is and the sort of things that happen both at home and abroad, one has got to think of all sorts of possibilities. But I don't want to go into detail about every tactic that we have."

He confirmed that the organisers of the event, Spearhead Exhibitions based in Surrey, were not contributing to the policing bill.

Campaigners branded the policing plan as an overreaction and complained officers had already launched a crackdown in the vicinity of the fair this week using anti-terrorism legislation to stop and search people.

Martin Hogbin of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade said: "This is an absolute overreaction of the use of police powers against peaceful protesters and citizens who are concerned about what is going on inside this arms bazaar.

"If the police are really looking for those involved in funding or fuelling terrorism they should be looking inside the fair not outside it.

Nearly 1,000 weapons companies selling artillery, military aircraft, bombs and small arms will have stands at the fair, which is expected to attract up to 20,000 delegates from across the world.

About half the exhibitors will be British, with 20% from the US and the remaining 30% from other Nato countries.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade expressed outrage that many countries invited to the fair, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, China and Syria, have controversial human rights records and others, such as Tanzania, are among the poorest in the world.

"It is not only big weapons systems like aeroplanes, warships and tanks that are on display but small arms, teargas, police and riot control equipment - weaponry typical for use in human rights abuses," Mr Hogbin said.

"This fair is a bringing together of companies and countries with terrible track records. It's absolutely scandalous that British taxpayers are being forced to contribute hundreds of thousands of pounds to help some of the world's most dangerous states sell weapons on our doorstep.

"After the controversy over the UK government licensing a £28m military air traffic control system to Tanzania which it neither needs nor can afford it is astounding and disturbing that one of the poorest countries in the world has now been invited to London buy itself yet more arms," he added.

A spokesman for Spearhead said the event was simply an exhibition.

"This is not an arms fair. If you want to come and buy 500 Kalashnikovs and 50,000 rounds of ammunition and have them delivered next Wednesday, you can't," he said.

"This is an exhibition, mainly for contractors and subcontractors. It's an industry-to-industry show.

"There are people who are anti the event, but this is a place for doing business. We make every effort possible to ensure that what is in our show is legal so the fair cannot be described as an illegal defence exhibition."

The MoD's defence export services organisation, which coordinates sales, insisted there were strict criteria for export licences and said the fact that a country was attending the exhibition did not entitle it to purchase weapons.

No photographs, but some observations of a few Forward Intelligence Team cops who were making a nuisance of themselves on the Disarm DSEi unity march on Saturday -

YE76
This vertically challenged FIT guy is very talkative and forthcoming. Likes very much to get in your face. Based at Edmonton station.
YE458
The silent, brooding partner of YE458. Not much to comment on really.

FH138
This guy from Hammersmith station got quite upset about having his number taken down, and couldn't quite understand why such a thing might be noted. If you feel that this sort of hostility and secretive behaviour isn't really in keeping with the public-minded nature of the police, you could always ask his boss about it at Hammersmith Police Station, 226 Shepherds Bush Road, London W6 7NX.
CX591
The running mate of FH138, who was also taken aback by the interest protesters took in him, so much so that we were assured "CX591" was "not his real numbers, you know".