[A] Stop Bechtel and Halliburton making a killing out of the killing in
Iraq. Demo. and street theatre outside London Bechtel office, 11
Pilgrim Street (nr. Blackfriars) at 11am on Tuesday 24 FEBRUARY. Org. by Voices
UK. Part of the International Day of Action Against the Corporate Invasion
of Iraq. See the advance press release below for background and more
details.

[B] Defend the Right to Protest: Fairford Coach Action Film Screening &
Public Meeting. SOAS in room G2 at 7pm-9pm on Thursday the 26 FEBRUARY.
Guest speakers (Amnesty, Liberty, Bindmans, Statewatch), two short
passenger films showing the experience (25 minutes total), plus free
snacks/drinks. Contact Jesse on 0781 4587 361. See
 http://www.mythic-beasts.com/~thedishbench/fca/

[C] Meeting with Ewa Jasiewicz, activist just back from Iraq. Quaker
International Centre, Byng Place, Malet St, London (nr. ULU). 7.30pm, 2
MARCH. Organised by Voices UK. See  http://www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/library/ewajasiewicz.htm

[D] Support whistleblower Katherine Gun.
Support the GCHQ translator who exposed US spying on UN Security
Council
members in the run up to the war and is now being prosecuted under the
Official Secrets Act. Gun will be appearing at the Old Bailey on the
25th
February. Our World Our Say are running a petition and urging folk to
lobby
their MPs in advance of the 25th
( http://www.owos.info/make_a_donation/katharine.php). Liberty (who are
representing Gun) and the US Institute for Public Accuracy also have
useful
web-pages re. Gun's case:
 http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/issues/katharine-gun.shtml and
 http://www.accuracy.org/gun/

More events can be found listed at
 http://www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/events.html and
 http://www.stopwar.org.uk/action.asp

*********************************
PRESS RELEASE
17 February 2004
Voices in the Wilderness UK [A]

CORPORATE WAR PROFITEERS PRESENTED WITH GIANT BLLOD-SPATTERED CHEQUES
Protests across the US/UK mark day of action against the corporate
invasion
of Iraq

Tuesday February 24th, 11am outside Bechtel’s office at 11 Pilgrim
Street
(near Blackfriars tube): US President George Bush will be awarding
giant
blood-splattered cheques worth billions of dollars to US corporations
Bechtel and Halliburton – and British construction company AMEC -
outside
Bechtel’s office in Central London next Tuesday as part of an
International
Day of Action to Stop the Corporate Invasion of Iraq. At least 19
protests
will be taking place in the US and Britain, including demonstrations
and
actions in San Franciso, Boston, Washington, Chicago and Austin, Texas
[B].

In April 2003, with Iraqi blood still wet on the ground, Bechtel was
awarded
a $680 mn no-bid contract to ‘rebuild’ Iraq and last month it received
a
further $1.8 bn contract despite evidence of slow progress and shoddy
work
[C]. Halliburton has received over $9 bn worth of contracts amidst
allegations of bribery and overcharging [D]. Both companies have close
links
to the Bush administration. Meanwhile Mike O'Brien, the UK minister of
international trade and foreign affairs, has been dispatched to
Washington
this week to lobby on behalf of British firms and AMEC is ‘confident of
winning a key role in a $3.8 billion contract to rebuild Iraq’s
dilapidated
electricity generation and transmission system’ [E]

Voices UK spokesperson Emma Sangster said ‘The Bush administration has
been
treating reconstruction contracts as prizes to be handed to their
friends,
delaying Iraq’s recovery with potentially catastrophic consequences
whilst
fleecing the US tax payer. At the same time the British Government’s
main
concern seems to be to get their own corporate friends’ snouts in the
trough. We’re here today to blow the whistle on this scam.’

Photo opportunity: ‘George Bush’ will be presenting his giant cheque to
‘representatives’ of Bechtel and Halliburton outside Bechtel’s office
at 11
Pilgrim Street (near Blackfriars) between 11am and 12 noon.
For more information contact 0845 458 2564

NOTES
[A] Voices in the Wilderness UK has been campaigning on Iraq for the
last
six years. For more info. see www.voicesuk.org.
[B] See  http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?calid=7342
[C] See:
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,939297,00.html
($680 mn);
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4832191-103550,00.html
($1.8 bn); and
 http://newsobserver.com/24hour/business/v-print/story/1083030p-7562310c.html
(shoddy work)
[D] See  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1137573,00.html
(‘bribery’)
[E] See:
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,1147226,00.html
(O’
Brien); and
 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1148166,00.html
(AMEC)