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Candle-lit vigils held across the world for Middle East ceasefire

by Staff Writers
Paris, Aug 7, 2006
ATTENTION -vigils, events in several countries /// Demonstrators lit candles in cities across the world from Paris to Hong Kong on Monday at peaceful vigils to call for a ceasefire in the Middle East, as Israeli warplanes battered Lebanon and Hezbollah fighters fired missiles into Israel.

Vigils were reported to have taken place in Asian, African and European cities as part of a series of events planned in 22 countries by branches of the London-based global human rights body Amnesty International.

In the French capital, dozens of people dressed in black lay down on the ground imitating corpses beside a fountain in the central neighbourhood of Beaubourg.

Amnesty delivered a petition to the door of British Prime Minister's office in Downing Street, London. It asked for the conflict to stop on the grounds, Amnesty said, that it violated international humanitarian law.

Amnesty said a small gathering attended the delivery of the petition, including the celebrity and activist Bianca Jagger.

A blistering offensive by Israeli military planes and ground troops aimed at crushing Hezbollah Shiite militants in Lebanon is in its fourth week. More than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers.

Dozens of civilians have also been killed in Israel by Hezbollah rocket attacks.

In Rome several hundred people gathered at the foot of an ancient Roman arena, the Coliseum, where candles were lit spelling out "ceasefire" in Italian.

In Hong Kong, about 100 people took part in a candle-lit vigil on the harbour waterfront, observing a minute's silence and spelling out "ceasefire" in English and Chinese.

Dozens of people joined an event involving speeches and prayers in the Taiwanese capital Taipei.

The vigil was also followed in Africa. Members of the Lebanese community in the war-scarred west African state of Sierra Leone gathered chanting outside Amnesty's headquarters in Freetown, calling for immediate action by the UN Security Council to protect civilian lives and human rights in Lebanon.

Explaining the motivation for the vigils last week, Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said: "The human cost of this conflict is far too high."

"We demand that the international community call an immediate ceasefire," she added. "Civilians in both Lebanon and Israel cannot be left in the line of fire.

"Governments must stop fuelling this suffering by imposing an arms embargo against Israel and Hezbollah and refusing to allow the transer of weapons to or through their territories."

Monday saw a series of solemn gatherings in other European capitals and major cities.

Around 100 people wearing white T-shirts gathered on the steps of Brussels' Palace of Justice calling for a ceasefire and a smaller vigil was also held in Amsterdam.

A vigil was held at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, with others planned in the German city of Hanover and several Spanish cities including Madrid, Seville and Valencia.

Amnesty branches were also due to hold vigils in the following countries: Australia, Chile, India, Israel, Lebanon, Mali, Nepal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, the United States and Venezuela.

In a separate action on Monday, a pro-Palestinian group held a demonstration by some 200 children in the Moroccan city of Casablanca against Israeli actions in Lebanon and what the group alleged was US support for the Jewish state.

burs-rlp/jmy

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Three Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon fighting
Jerusalem, Aug 7, 2006
Three Israeli soldiers were killed Monday in clashes with Hezbollah around the flashpoint southern Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, the army said.







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