Demonstrators Invade UN General Assembly Against War on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Demonstrators Invade UN General Assembly Against War on Iraq

Thirteen demonstrators invaded the United Nations General Assembly chamber in the United Nations Monday to protest a possible war on Iraq and demand an end to UN sanctions.

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Thirteen demonstrators invaded the United Nations General Assembly chamber in the United Nations Monday to protest a possible war on Iraq and demand an end to UN sanctions.

The demonstrators, members of a group called No Blood for Oil, sat peacefully in the public gallery chanting "no war in Iraq, endo f sanctions, no attack" until they were expelled by UN security guards.

General Assembly spokesman Richard Sydenham said the demonstrators "broke away from a tour group and will be handed over the New York City police for disorderly conduct."

The assembly was in plenary session at the time, for the election of judges to the International Court of Justice, but the protest did not disrupt proceedings which had been suspended for half an hour to count ballots.

The protest coincided with a meeting of ambassadors from the five permanent UN Security Council members to discuss moves towards a draft resolution to give UN arms inspectors in Iraq a tough new mandate.

The meeting was held at the US mission to the United Nations, just across the street from the UN headquarters in the downtown area of New York City.

In a statement faxed to reporters, the "No Blood for Oil" organization called on the United Nations to abandon the "inhuman policy" of sanctions against Iraq, which were imposed after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

"Economic sanctions are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis over the past decade and have in no way lessened the threat of war," the statement said.

It accused the United States of "applying tremendous pressure on Security Council members to give their blessing to a criminal war of aggression against Iraq."

The protest was the third incident involving security guards injust over two weeks at the UN headquarters.

On Oct. 4, security chief Mike McCann called for security to beupgraded at the UN complex after a man jumped over the wall from the First Avenue in the central New York City and fired seven shots at the building. Three bullets hit windows on the 18th and 20th floors, but nobody was hurt.

Last week, two youths were arrested after scaling the wall intothe UN gardens at night. They told UN security guards they wanted to take each other's photograph.

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