Press release - 17 February, 2003
Ten Greenpeace activists climbed onto the harbour's lock gates and sealed it shut to prevent four ships loaded with US military equipment bound for the Gulf leaving the harbour and a US navy vessel entering it to be loaded.
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior returned to Antwerp
harbour late this afternoon to further confront US military
preparations as part of Greenpeace's continuing opposition to the
impending war in Iraq.
At 18.00 hrs CET, while Kofi Annan was meeting with European
heads of government at the emergency Summit in Brussels, the
Rainbow Warrior sailed into Antwerp port. Ten Greenpeace activists
climbed onto one of the harbour's lock gates to seal it shut.
Other activists drove inflatable boats across the opening of the
second lock gate to prevent four ships loaded with US military
equipment bound for the Gulf leaving the harbour and a US navy
vessel entering it to be loaded. Several activists have been
arrested.
"This weekend, the people of Europe and the world showed their
overwhelming opposition to the war. European leaders must now
listen to their citizens. So called 'preventive war' is prohibited
by the United Nations Charter. We're looking to European leaders to
stand up for international law and make it clear that this war
would be illegal, disastrous and wrong," said Jan Vade Putte of
Greenpeace, speaking in Antwerp at the protest.
"We are also horrified that the US is prepared to use illegal
chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq, and demand to know whether
such weapons are being shipped through Belgian ports or any other
European harbours," he added.
US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has made clear to
Congress that he is preparing to use so called non-lethal chemical
weapons as part of his attack on Iraq. The use of these weapons is
illegal under the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention and the Geneva
Convention.
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