Human shields urge global action against Iraq war
Date: 12-Mar-03
Country: IRAQ
They said Bush and his British ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair, should face trial if they unleash military force on a country where nearly half the population of 25 million people is aged 16 or under.
Around 120 human shields are still in Iraq, scattered around nine sites near Baghdad including an oil refinery, food silo, water treatment plant and power stations.
Five of the volunteers, including former U.S. marine Ken O'Keefe who helped bring dozens of people from Britain, were expelled from Iraq after clashing with authorities over the sites where the activists should be deployed.
The remainder said numbers were fluctuating as some returned home and others were still arriving to replace them.
"Only an immoral government would wage war on another country for oil, greed and strategic control of the Middle East," British human shield Judith Empson said.
"We appeal to people across the world to boycott U.S. goods, all of them," she told a news conference. "If war does come to Iraq we also appeal to people worldwide to stage a general strike, coupled with civil disobedience.
"Should Mr Bush and Mr Blair stage a pre-emptive strike on Iraq - against the wishes of the majority of the world's population - they would be contravening international law and they would be guilty of war crimes," Empson added.
The United States is struggling to win support at the United Nations Security Council for a resolution setting a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm or face war.
Empson said if it came to military action, she was ready to risk death in Iraq. "I would wish to stay. If they kill the Iraqi people, I would rather die with them," she said.
In another protest at the U.S.-British plans, four Buddhist monks said they would walk from the town of Samarra, 140 km (85 miles) north of Baghdad, to the Iraqi capital over the next week.
They are due to arrive in Baghdad on March 17, the ultimatum for Iraq to show it was disarming.
"The future of the children of Iraq is held hostage," said Junsei Terasawa, a Japanese Buddhist monk. "We appeal to President George Bush and President Saddam Hussein to make an extraordinary effort to avert war."
