Press release

9 October 2001

We have resolved to invite people to wear armbands while the assaults continue, as a reminder of the ordinary people of both the US and Afghanistan dead and being killed.

“We regret the loss of life in September and the ongoing deaths,” said veteran Nelson Peace campaigner Wil Foote after the Nelson Peace Group met last night.

“Peace group members will be wearing a black arm bands as an ongoing statement of our concern. We invite others wishing to mark the memory of those who have died and will continue to die in this new war, to join with us,” said Mr Foote.

Nelson Peace Group members noted that this war started a long time ago. “War is the real enemy. 'Let's give our children a world without war' was a common sentiment,” he said.

Members were particularly concerned that the United States had deliberately gone outside the United Nations in pursuit of this aggression. They felt other states such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were being corrupted by this process and Pakistan had been compromised. The future consequences of this action for the ordinary people of these countries could not be judged at this stage.