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The Herald (03/01/2007)

Nuclear protesters arrested at Faslane

Eight people were arrested when a group of anti-nuclear protesters from Belgium staged a blockade of the Faslane Naval Base yesterday.

Police made five arrests after activists attached themselves to a gate at the south entrance to the base on the Clyde using plastic pipes.

Three more people were arrested later in the morning after another group blockaded the north gate.

The protest, which was staged by members of Friends of the Earth Flanders and Brussels, is part of a 365-day action to disrupt activity at the naval base every day for a year.

It follows Tony Blair's decision to spend £25bn to replace the stock of Trident nuclear missiles carried by four submarines at the base.

It is understood that about a dozen protesters, including people from France, Germany, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands, travelled from Belgium at the weekend to take part in the blockade.

A calendar of direct actions to run from October 2006 to October this year was drawn up by anti-nuclear protesters based at the Faslane Peace Camp, near Helensburgh. The action will bring students, academics and politicians to the base.

A group of protesters draped sheets daubed with slogans denouncing Trident on fences and railings at the north entrance to the base.

One of the arrested men, Pol D'Huyvetter, 44, from Ghent in Belgium, said it was "hypocritical" for western governments to condemn Iran and North Korea for possessing nuclear weapons while they remained a part of Nato defence policy.

Jane Talents, a member of Trident Ploughshares, a group that campaigns against Trident, said the demonstration showed that there was international concern about nuclear weapons.

Dumbarton Labour MSP Jackie Baillie says that the jobs at the base are vital to the area. She claims that 7000 people work directly at the base, with another 4000 jobs dependent on it locally.

Strathclyde Police said that eight people had been arrested at the base but could not say whether they would be charged or released.

Link: http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/77899.html


Friends of the Earth Flanders & Brussels (formerly For Mother Earth) is a member of Friends of the Earth International