Thousands march against war (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Thousands march against war

FIVE people were arrested during a peace protest at RAF Fairford which saw 2,000 people demonstrate against war with Iraq.

The arrests marred what was otherwise a peaceful protest which drew coach loads of protesters from Camarthen to London.

One man was arrested for allegedly damaging the perimeter fence running around the US bomber base and released on police bail.

Two men were arrested for possessing wire cutters.

One was charged with intent to cause criminal damage, while the other was released on police bail.

A woman was released on police bail after being arrested for alleged disorderly conduct.

A base spokesman said there were no serious breaches of security, although a man and a woman did manage to break through the fence and walk their dog on the taxi-way before being escorted off the base.

Sunday's protest was organised to coincide with the last day of weapons inspections in Iraq.

Protesters, many of whom wore 'anti radiation suits' and gas masks, gathered in Fairford town centre before walking a mile-and-a-half to the base, which will soon have the capability to house deadly B2 Stealth bombers.

Demonstrators fear B2s armed with bunker-busting nuclear weapons will be launched from Fairford to attack Iraq.

Leading the demo were protesters from the Stroud Peace Movement, who carried a model of a Stealth bomber.

Other marchers waved banners, banged drums and saucepans and chanted anti-war slogans.

Protest songs poured from the speaker of a colourful bicycle-powered mobile sound system.

Perplexed Fairford residents watched as the march passed by.

Some expressed sympathy, while others said the protest was fruitless. Teenagers gathered in a bus shelter shouted 'Bomb Iraq'.

One pub, the Bull, refused to serve protesters as they returned from the base in the afternoon.

Among the marchers were several Greenham Common women.

Ann Pettitt, who started the Greenham Common peace camp in 1981, said: "If we go to war, B2s will be launched from Fairford carrying nuclear weapons.

"These are weapons of mass destruction and will cause radioactive fallout in Iraq for years to come."

When the march reached the gates of the base, protesters calling themselves the Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors asked to be let in to search for weapons of mass destruction.

Unsurprisingly, they were refused entry.

One protester, Juliet McBride from Southampton, scaled the main gates and waved a CND banner.

"I don't care if I'm arrested," she said. "I have been arrested 140 times before for protesting."

Speakers addressed the crowd, while protesters hung anti-war banners on the perimeter fence.

Fairford town councillor Lynn Phillips and her husband Roger were among the marchers.

She said: "I hope this protest will have an impact, we have got to get through to Tony Blair somehow.

"It's appalling that Stealth bombers could be based here."

Protesters are planning to hold smaller protests every Sunday at the base, and a permanent peace camp could set up if there is support.