Huge rally at USAF Fairford (From Stroud News and Journal)

Huge rally at USAF Fairford

STROUD peace campaigners were well-represented on a march which saw 2,000 people demonstrating against the war with Iraq on Sunday.

Bus loads of protesters from the Five Valleys turned out in force to swell the numbers at Fairford Air Base.

Self-styled weapons inspector Annabel Caddle said: "I want to know what weapons are at Fairford.

"We do not want nuclear bunker-busters. The Americans and the British think these are acceptable, we do not."

Nurse Eden Sutcliffe, from Stroud, said: "I do not believe war is the answer to anything."

Eden and his girlfriend Lizzi Pickton pinned flowers to the perimeter fence in memory of Stroud peace activist Margaret Somervell, who died recently.

David Cockcroft, leader of the GWIs, said: "The protest was very successful and attracted people from all sorts of backgrounds.

"People don't like the fact that Fairford is one of three bases globally which could house Stealth bombers."

Eleven-year-old Tadhg Haydock was one of three youngsters dressed in 'chemical suits' who asked to be allowed to inspect the base with the GWIs.

The Thomas Keble School pupil said: "I think they should have let us in."

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 has 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.

Fairford residents who watched as the march passed by had mixed feelings about the event.

Some expressed sympathy, while others said the protest was fruitless.

And 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.

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

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

*FIVE people were arrested during the protest. The arrests marred what was otherwise a peaceful protest which drew coachloads of protesters from Camarthen to London.

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

Two other men were arrested for possessing wire cutters. One was charged with intent to cause criminal damage, while the other was released on police bail.

And 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.