Christians Rally against Government Arms Unit

Major Christian groups have come together in central London Monday to rally against the Government's arms sales unit, the Defence Export Service Organisation (DESO), as they called for its closure and an end to the Government's promotion of arms from the UK.

|PIC1|The 'Shut DESO Day of Action' brings together the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR), Christian youth organisation SPEAK, Pax Christi and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) in protest against DESO's proactive arms export strategy.

According to FoR, DESO boasts that 75 per cent of the UK arms sales would not have happened without them.

The day of protest is part of FoR's Living by the Sword campaign which wants to see the Government end its promotion of arms from the UK and more specifically close DESO.

The day of protest started with a prayer meeting outside the DESO headquarters before a rally at Bloomsbury Baptist Church.

Alun Morinan, Coordinator of the Christian Network of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said at the prayer meeting: "I'm hopeful - all of us here are hopeful - in what God can achieve. That's why it's so important to commit the day to God."

He stressed that it was important Christians realise the extent of the problem, noting that the UK was in the top five exporters of arms in the world.

Morinan also expressed his concern over the export of arms by the UK to countries notorious for their human rights abuses, like Saudi Arabia, which is currently ranked second on the Open Doors World Watch List 2006 for persecution against Christians - second only to North Korea.

Maud Grainger of FoR, meanwhile, heralded the Day of Action as a "great way for Christians to express their faith through action".

|QUOTE|At Monday's event the around 170 campaigners from all over the UK went on to form a human chain around the DESO offices at lunchtime.

Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of Pax Christi UK, co-organisers of the rally, was pleased at the way the Christian groups and secular peace groups were working together at the rally.

She stressed the need to be aware of the root of conflict, saying that "people are aware of conflict but not that it's fuelled by systems and structures of government and arms companies".

Former Iraq hostage and trustee of FoR, Norman Kember, joined with the campaigners as they surrounded the building before being strapped with hazard warning tape to declare the area a 'global danger zone'.

He told Christian Today that "the reduction of the arms trade is an important factor in peacekeeping," adding that the "world is awash with arms".

He also said that the situation in Iraq was worse than when he left and that this was partly due to the export of arms by countries like Britain.