250 anti war activists close down Britain Mil. HQ

Press release Sunday 19th January 13.00

Voices in the Wilderness UK www.voicesuk.org

0845 458 2564/ 0794 7839992

250 anti war activists close down Britain's military H

qBoth gates at Britain's military HQ, Northwood, are now closed. 250 activists are in the road in front of the main gate, and four activists have locked themselves to the side gate in Atria Road. A samba band is playing and people are dancing and cheering.

The blockade got off to an early start as 6 anti war activists from Oxford arrived at 9am with a 5 foot wide pair of purple Y-fronts which they locked themselves inside. The pants were decorated with a slogan "War is pants".

They were accompanied by a purple doll with the slogan "Pants to war". Police are attempting to cut them out of their pants at the moment.

For pictures of the pants call 0845 458 2564.

The blockade has been organised by Voices in the Wilderness UK, ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War) and the D10 group. The action is the second day of a weekend of nonviolent direct action against war, following Saturday's Operation Internal Look, when hundreds of activists breached the Official Secrets Act by photographing Northwood base in front of a media scrum.

This event is the latest in a series of nonviolent direct actions as the growing anti war movement responds with increasing urgency to the threat of war. In December Voices in the Wilderness staged Warzone Whitehall, a mass sit down in Whitehall. 2 weeks later the Gloucester Weapons Inspectors staged a mass weapons inspection at USAF Fairford, expected to host US B2 stealth bombers.

A sit down protest is being organised by ARROW (www.j-n-v.org) after the Stop the War march on 15 February and next Sunday 26th January the Gloucestershre Weapons Inspectors will return to Fairford (www.gwi.org).

Richard Byrne of ARROW and Voices in the Wilderness said, "Today we'll see hundreds of activists putting their liberty on the line to stop this war on Iraq, a war that the UN says will probably have worse consequences for civilians that the 1991 Gulf War (1). That's why over 3000 people in the UK have signed a pledge of resistance to engage in nonviolent direct action against the so called war on terrorism. If this Government backs the US war on Iraq they will encounter civil disobedience on an unprecedented scale"

0845 458 2564/ 0794 7839992

(1) Leaked draft UN assessment, see www.casi.org.uk for full text

sign the pledge of resistance to the "war on terrorism" www.j-n-v.org

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