“Stop the War Coalition”-Cyprus delegate Murat Kanatli has returned to the island. Kanatli:

 “This is not a war but a terrorist state attack; Demilitarise Israel, not Hezbollah”

Most of the entrances and exits of the bridges surrounding Beirut and the highways going towards the Southern part of Lebanon were destroyed.

The minibus that we used for the transportation

Fishermen’s shelters and the public beaches within 1 km are affected by the petroleum waste whereas luxurious hotels and the beaches owned by private enterprises are clean

First meeting with Hezbollah Executive Board member Ali Fayyad (wearing jacket)

Meeting with Lebanon Communist Party Vice Secretary General Saadallah Mazraani (wearing white shirt)

With a press statement, anti-war movement members of Cyprus, Turkey and Greece expressed their impressions at the headquarter of Harakat-as-Shaab (People’s Movement)

Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Tunisian activists joined the studies held between 18 and 20 August.

Hezbollah Executive Board member Ali Fayyad, Lebanon Communist Party Vice Secretary General Saadallah Mazraani and the other activists and NGO representatives informed the groups about the latest developments.

On August 18^th, Green Line representatives were informed about the cleaning activities following the bombing of the power station which had petrol stocks fluxed to the environment and entered into the sea shore. Green Line activists said to the representatives that the luxurious hotels and the sea shores owned by the private enterprises were cleaned whereas the fishermen’s shelters and the beaches open to the public were voluntarily cleaned by the Green Line despite the Minister of Environment  not allowing them to do so. On  August 19^th, the representatives also visited the southern part of Lebanon, especially the city of Tyre and its environment and observed the residences that were bombed and then met Tyre Mayor and the other members of the Municipality. Then, on  August 20^th, they visited the poorer areas outside of tourist places where Hezbollah has a strong political power.

Anti-war members of Cyprus, Turkey and Greece expressed their impressions at the Headquarter of Harakat-as-Shaab (People’s Movement). Following the press releases of the representatives, Petros Constantinou expressed his impressions. During his speech, he emphasised the extent of the destruction and welcomed the resistance. He then talked about the international anti war movement activities held at the Cairo Conference and recalled the campaign to be carried out by the activists comprising from different parts of the world that was planned to be held in September. He also said that during this campaign, the activists would pass from Egypt’s Alexandria port through an aid ship and go to Larnaca port and then to Beirut. He also mentioned that they would ignore the embargoes if the the blockade is not removed. He also emphasised that the anti-war activists would meet in a peace conference in Lebanon in November. He finally recalled that the end of September was declared as “the solidarity week with Palestine” by the European Social Form and said that to this end; series of activities would be held all around the world.

Following the press statement, the Cyprus delegation returned to the island through Syria. Greek and Turkish representatives returned on Monday and Wednesday respectively.

Regarding the issue, Murat Kanatli, expressed the impressions of the Cyprus delegation through different events; shared the pictures with the masses and expressed that they would try to do their best in order to show the bitter experiences of the Lebanese people in every circumstance. He also expressed that all these should not be considered as a war but a terrorist state attack; therefore, peace in the region could only be achieved not through the disarmament of Hezbollah but Israel. He also recalled that the ceasefire continued to be violated by Israel whereas Palestinian people were still under attack. Kanatli, as Lebanese Communist Party Vice Secretary General expressed, emphasised that it was important that the fundamentalist movements should not be put under the same basket with the Islamic resistance. (21 August 2006, Nicosia)

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