International Weapons Inspections Team Heads to D.C. area to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction

TORONTO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A delegation of parliamentarians, scientists, academics, faith and union leaders from Canada, the U.K., Italy, Denmark and the U.S. will head to the Washington D.C. area Saturday to attempt to inspect the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland. Heading up the 13-person international team are UK Member of Parliament Alan Simpson who is head of "Labour Party Against the War", Canadian Member of Parliament Libby Davies and Ed Hammond, Director of the Sunshine Project and an American biological weapons expert.

On Monday February 17th, the team sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, requesting his full cooperation. The Defense Department has since confirmed receipt of the request but has yet to offer comment.

The team intends to draw attention to the hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy, particularly against Iraq. The group is organized by Rooting Out Evil, a Canadian-based coalition of international citizens, and is supported by American peace groups including International ANSWER and Global Exchange and by almost 25,000 honorary inspectors from 52 countries who have signed up on the group's website www.rootingoutevil.org.

Throughout the weekend, hourly updates can be attained via the following cell numbers: (416) 910-9779 and (416) 884-7053

1. Inspections Team departure from Toronto - press conference ------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Group Departures area at Post 35, just outside of U.S. departures Terminal 2, Pearson International Airport, Toronto

2. Inspections Team arrival in D.C. ----------------------------------- Flight arrival: Reagan International Airport, Air Canada flight No. 534

3. Inspections Team as key speakers at public gathering in D.C. --------------------------------------------------------------- Location: First Congregational Church, 945 G St NW, Washington, D.C.

4. Inspections Team arrival at Edgewood Chemical Biological Center ------------------------------------------------------------------ Location: Edgewood Chemical Biological Facility Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (approximate drive time from D.C. - 1.5 hours)

Directions from D.C.: Take I-95 North to MD-24 South (Exit 77A) toward Edgewood. This leads you to the main gate of the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground.

5. Post-inspection comments by the Inspections Team --------------------------------------------------- Location: Hotel Washington, 15th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. Time: Sunday, February 23, 2:30 p.m. EST

Did you guys visit their website? Look at the Mission USA section:

MISSION USA
UPDATE: February 17, 2003

With only five days left before our trip to the U.S.A., final arrangements are now being made for our first weapons inspection.

Today we sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld serving notice that we will be sending an international team of weapons inspectors to Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland on Sunday, February 23, 2003 to investigate U.S. involvement in the development and storage of chemical and biological weapons. Read the letter here.

The delegation that will be performing the inspection at Edgewood includes: Libby Davies, Member of Parliament (Canada - NDP); Alan Simpson, Member of Parliament (United Kingdom - Labour) and head of Labour Against the War; Christy Ferguson, Organizer and Spokesperson, Rooting Out Evil; Deborah Bourque, National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers; Steven Staples, Defense Analyst, Polaris Institute; Mel Watkins, Professor Emeritus - Economics and Political Science, University of Toronto; Samaa Elibyari, Representative, Canadian Islamic Congress; Ed Hammond, Director, Sunshine Project; Peter Shorett, Director of Programmes, Council for Responsible Genetics; Francesco Martone, Senator (Italy - Green Party; Graziella Mascia, Member of Parliament (Italy - Rifondazione Communista); and Pernille Rosenkrantz, Member of Parliament (Denmark - Red-Green Alliance).

Supporters and the general public are invited to join the team at a public forum in Washington D.C. at 7:30pm, Saturday, February 22nd at the First Congregational Church, 945 G Street NW (corner at 10th and G, next to the library).

We would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to all of our honorary inspectors for the financial and moral support that has made this project possible.

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We have selected the US as our first priority based on criteria provided by the Bush administration. According to those criteria, the most dangerous states are those run by leaders who:

1) have massive stockpiles of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons;
2) ignore due process at the United Nations;
3) refuse to sign and honour international treaties; and
4) have come to power through illegitimate means.

The current US administration fulfills all these criteria. And so, again following Bush’s guidelines, Rooting Out Evil is demanding that his administration allow immediate and unfettered access to international weapons inspectors to search out their caches of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

On the weekend of February 22/23, the team will attempt to cross into the United States on a mission of peace, and will be greeted on the US side by Americans who favour true global cooperation, an end to weapons of mass destruction, and a regime change in the US at the next election. The team will then attempt to inspect a US site suspected of housing weapons of mass destruction.

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