Anit-war rally targets Nato assembly in the capital

Published on Sunday 15 November 2009 00:05

HUNDREDS of anti-Nato protesters marched through centre of Edinburgh yesterday to protest against the war in Afghanistan.

The demonstration targeted the meeting of the annual Nato Parliamentary assembly, which is taking place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

Relatives of dead soldiers were joined by politicians and union, student and anti-nuclear groups. Joan Humphreys, whose grandson Kevin Elliott, a 24-year-old Black Watch private, was killed in Afghanistan in August, addressed the crowd, calling for British troops to be returned home.

Humphreys, from Dundee, said: "I would like the troops to come home walking – not on stretchers or in body bags."

The Nato assembly, which began on Friday, is focusing on six themes before drawing up resolutions. These will include reinforcing nuclear non-proliferation and "moving beyond" the economic crisis. Nato-led operations in Afghanistan also feature prominently on the agenda.

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, members of the Scottish Defence League (SDL), which claims to oppose Islamic militancy, held a protest in Cambridge Street amid a heavy police presence. Police made five arrests.

Elsewhere in the city, more than a thousand supporters of Scotland United held a counter-demonstration to oppose the SDL demo.