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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| French prepare for protests |
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| sabri |
| 05/26/02 at 01:10:17 |
| [slm] PARIS (Reuters) - French protesters Saturday geared up for demonstrations to coincide with a visit by President Bush while police prepared a massive security operation. Bush, who arrives in France Sunday and leaves Monday has so far charmed German lawmakers and signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia on his European tour. But the trip has also prompted protests by thousands of demonstrators. Thirty French organizations have joined for fresh demonstrations, planning two high-profile protests on issues ranging from a possible U.S. attack on Iraq to Washington's polices on the Middle East, trade and the environment. ``It's not an anti-American demonstration,'' said Pierre Tartakowsky, Secretary General of Attac, France's most high-profile anti-globalization group which is helping organize the protests. ``It's against policies led by Bush and his administration. The present U.S. administration is very aggressive and very dangerous for the future of the planet,'' he said. On his arrival on his first official visit to France, Bush will be whisked away in a motorcade from Paris Orly airport under secure guard to a meeting with re-elected President Jacques Chirac. TENSIONS The meeting takes place as relations between the European Union and the United States grate over trade after Bush imposed tariffs on U.S. steel imports and approved a farm law which raises U.S. crop and dairy subsidies. Bush's arrival will coincide with a protest in Caen in Normandy, close to the U.S. Cemetery he will visit Monday to deliver a Memorial Day speech to honor the U.S. soldiers who died in the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany. ``I'll give a speech that will talk about sacrifice...and lay out the sacrifices that we're going to need to do in the future, if we expect the world to be free,'' Bush said in an interview with French television this week. The protest groups, who include the Green Party -- partners in France's last leftist government -- accuse Bush of war-mongering and say his administration is using its war on terrorism to promote U.S. imperialism. ``We are worried that he is preparing an attack on Iraq,'' said Attac's Tartakowsky. A demonstration, expected to be orderly, will also be held in Paris Sunday while Bush meets Chirac at the presidential Elysee palace. Organizers hope thousands of protesters will turn out but they were reluctant to give firm estimates. Police, led by a new center-right government appointed by Chirac with a brief to crack down on crime, are taking no chances with the demonstrations. ``There will be a lot of security,'' said a spokeswoman at the foreign ministry, which is coordinating Bush's visit. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-france-bush-protests.html [wlm] |
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