ITALY: "PEACE REBELS" BREAK INTO AN AIRPORT TO HANG UP ANTI-WAR BANNERS AND DEMONSTRATORS MARCH THROUGH PISA IN PROTEST AGAINST A POSSIBLE U.S. ATTACK ON IRAQ

Record ID: 208507

  • Title: ITALY: "PEACE REBELS" BREAK INTO AN AIRPORT TO HANG UP ANTI-WAR BANNERS AND DEMONSTRATORS MARCH THROUGH PISA IN PROTEST AGAINST A POSSIBLE U.S. ATTACK ON IRAQ
  • Date: 26th February 2003
  • Summary: (U7)PISA, ITALY (FEBRUARY 26, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. LV OF PISA AND RIVER ARNO 0.04 2. LV WALL RUNNING ALONGSIDE RIVER ARNO WITH GRAFFITI READING 'CLOSE CAMP DARBY' 0.09 3. SLV PEACE ACTIVISTS WALKING ALONG STREET 0.16 4. LV EXTERIOR PISA MILITARY AIRPORT 0.19 5. SV PEACE ACTIVISTS BREAKING THROUGH WIRE FENCE AND ENTERING AIRPORT (3 SHOTS) 0.40 6. SLV ACTIVISTS CHANTING 'NOW AND FOREVER DISOBEDIENT' 0.48 7. SV FIREMEN INSIDE AIRPORT TRYING TO STOP DEMONSTRATORS 0.55 8. SLV/CU PEACE ACTIVISTS PUTTING UP BANNERS IN AIRPORT (2 SHOTS) 1.02 9. PAN FROM ITALIAN MILITARY AIRPLANES ON TARMAC TO ACTIVISTS PUT UP BANNERS 1.08 10. MCU (Italian) PEACE ACTIVIST NICOLA FRATOIANNI SAYING "I think the war is illegal the way it is being prepared in a country where the vast majority don't want war and with a parliament which is supposed to be sovereign in these choices and which is not voting on it. The Italian constitution rejects war and yet this government without respect or consensus for the constitution is going to war." 1.32 11. LV/SLV BANNERS READING 'STOP GLOBAL WAR' AND 'CLOSE CAMP DARBY' SEEN THROUGH WIRE FENCE (3 SHOTS) 1.52 12. SV/MCU DEMONSTRATORS LEAVING AIRPORT (2 SHOTS) 2.03 13. LV/SV DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING THROUGH STREETS OF PISA (4 SHOTS) 2.27 14. SLV/CU DEMONSTRATORS RE-ENACTING WAR AS THOUGH A SCENE FROM A POLICE INVESTIGATION AFTER A MURDER (3 SHOTS) 2.41 15. MCU (Italian) VITTORIO AGNOLETTO, LEADER OF THE SOCIAL FORUM GROUP SAYING "There is impoverished uranium at Camp Darby ready for use, ready for ammunition for planes and tanks." 2.50 16. SLV DEMONSTRATION (2 SHOTS) 3.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PISA, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA4YVVVSPLI3CKDQ8FP9X0ACFMY
  • Story Text: Italy's self-styled "peace rebels" have broken into an
    airport to hang up rainbow anti-war banners and thousands of
    demonstrators have marched through the town of Pisa in
    protests against a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.



    In Pisa the spotlight swung from the famous leaning
    tower to the airport on Wednesday (February 26), where
    activists pulled down wire fences and strung up signs saying
    "Stop the global war!" in front of military camouflage planes.

    Fireman on the civilian side of the airfield, which runs
    adjacent to the military area, tried in vain to stop the
    activists as they entered the area to raise their banners to
    protest against the war.

    "I think the war is illegal the way it is being prepared
    in a country where the vast majority don't want war and with a
    parliament which is supposed to be sovereign in these choices
    and which is not voting on it," said peace activist Nicola
    Fratoianni.

    "The Italian constitution rejects war and yet this
    government, without respect or consensus for the constitution,
    is going to war," he said.

    Protesters are angry that Italy is allowing the United
    States to transport war equipment from bases around Venice to
    Camp Darby, a key installation on the coast of Tuscany near
    Pisa, from where it is expected to be shipped to the Gulf.

    Later on Wednesday, dubbed "a day of mobilisation" by the
    anti-globalisation group European Social Forum, about close to
    5,000 Italian peace rebels marched through the streets of
    Pisa. Some carried out make believe scenes of war on the
    streets with body-chalk marks drawn onto the street as the
    scene of a crime.

    "There is impoverished uranium at Camp Darby ready for
    use, ready for ammunition for planes and tanks," said leader
    of the Social Forum Group Vittorio Agnoletto.

    More demonstrations are expected tomorrow as protesters
    try to actually block trains transporting U.S. equipment to
    Camp Darby.

    The well-protected U.S. centre, set up in 1952 as a
    logistics base, houses some 400 U.S. personnel and employs
    around 700 Italian civilians.

    Italy's Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has called the
    activists' protests illegal and said authorities would use all
    force necessary to ensure that the trains and equipment arrive
    safely.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register