Post by Bozur on Feb 26, 2005 17:23:15 GMT -5
Europe - AP
Italy Protesters Seek Hostage's Release
Sat Feb 19,10:24 PM ET Europe - AP
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer
ROME - Waving rainbow peace flags, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of central Rome on Saturday to press for the release of an Italian journalist abducted in Iraq earlier this month.
The somber march came days after 56-year-old Giuliana Sgrena was seen in a wrenching video pleading for her life and begging for the withdrawal of foreign troops — including Italian ones — from Iraq. The demonstration was planned before the video was shown Wednesday.
"Free Iraq, Troops out of Iraq," read one banner at the demonstration. "Let's free peace," written underneath a giant photo of Sgrena, said another.
As demonstrators walked near the Colosseum, the arena's lights turned from white to gold, as they do when a death sentence is commuted somewhere in the world.
"I'm sure this demonstration will help Giuliana," said Nermina Kekic, a 40-year-old Yugoslav-born resident of Italy. "Through this, I want to stay close to her and give her strength."
Helicopters hovered above the demonstration and scores of policemen were on patrol. The march started near Rome's main train station and wound up at the Circus Maximus.
Police released no official crowd estimates, but organizers said that up to 400,000 people joined the demonstration.
Sgrena, a veteran journalist, was kidnapped in Baghdad on Feb. 4. Her newspaper, the communist daily Il Manifesto, has fiercely criticized the war and Premier Silvio Berlusconi's decision to deploy 3,000 troops after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Il Manifesto and Sgrena's companion, Pier Scolari, organized the march. Scolari has actively highlighted Sgrena's pacifist conviction in hopes of aiding her release.
"I feel well because after 15 days I am among so many people who want Giuliana's release," said Scolari. "We hope that it will happen soon."
The hostage's father, Franco Sgrena, welcomed the sight of so many people taking part in the march. "More than this we couldn't do," he said. "I hope this message gets to the kidnappers."
Organizers vowed the march would be nonpolitical, but many demonstrators also protested the war in Iraq and the Italian government's support. Most Italians were opposed to the conflict, surveys have shown.
Members of Berlusconi's right-wing coalition did not participate in the march, while opposition leaders did.
Participants also pressed for the release of French reporter Florence Aubenas and her translator, who were kidnapped Jan. 5 in Iraq. Many also remembered two Indonesian journalists who were shown flanked by masked gunmen in a video Friday.
Among the participants was Simona Torretta, an aid worker who was held hostage in Iraq for three weeks with a colleague before being released in September.
"Giuliana is one of us," Torretta said on a stage at the end of the march. "She has always shown solidarity with the suffering of the Iraqi people. Her voice is an important one."
In a stadium in Sicily, captains of the Messina and Juventus soccer clubs walked onto the pitch wearing T-shirts calling for Sgrena's release. The same appeal was expected to be launched at stadiums across Italy this weekend.
Meanwhile in Brazil, some 200 people rallied in Sao Paulo to appeal for the release of Joao Jose Vasconcellos, the Brazilian engineer seized Jan. 19 on his way to Baghdad airport. His relatives said the kidnappers still haven't contacted them.
Soon after his kidnapping, the militant Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed in an Al-Jazeera videotape to be holding him.
More than 190 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq in the past year, and more than 30 of the hostages were killed.
Italy Protesters Seek Hostage's Release
Sat Feb 19,10:24 PM ET Europe - AP
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer
ROME - Waving rainbow peace flags, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of central Rome on Saturday to press for the release of an Italian journalist abducted in Iraq earlier this month.
The somber march came days after 56-year-old Giuliana Sgrena was seen in a wrenching video pleading for her life and begging for the withdrawal of foreign troops — including Italian ones — from Iraq. The demonstration was planned before the video was shown Wednesday.
"Free Iraq, Troops out of Iraq," read one banner at the demonstration. "Let's free peace," written underneath a giant photo of Sgrena, said another.
As demonstrators walked near the Colosseum, the arena's lights turned from white to gold, as they do when a death sentence is commuted somewhere in the world.
"I'm sure this demonstration will help Giuliana," said Nermina Kekic, a 40-year-old Yugoslav-born resident of Italy. "Through this, I want to stay close to her and give her strength."
Helicopters hovered above the demonstration and scores of policemen were on patrol. The march started near Rome's main train station and wound up at the Circus Maximus.
Police released no official crowd estimates, but organizers said that up to 400,000 people joined the demonstration.
Sgrena, a veteran journalist, was kidnapped in Baghdad on Feb. 4. Her newspaper, the communist daily Il Manifesto, has fiercely criticized the war and Premier Silvio Berlusconi's decision to deploy 3,000 troops after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
Il Manifesto and Sgrena's companion, Pier Scolari, organized the march. Scolari has actively highlighted Sgrena's pacifist conviction in hopes of aiding her release.
"I feel well because after 15 days I am among so many people who want Giuliana's release," said Scolari. "We hope that it will happen soon."
The hostage's father, Franco Sgrena, welcomed the sight of so many people taking part in the march. "More than this we couldn't do," he said. "I hope this message gets to the kidnappers."
Organizers vowed the march would be nonpolitical, but many demonstrators also protested the war in Iraq and the Italian government's support. Most Italians were opposed to the conflict, surveys have shown.
Members of Berlusconi's right-wing coalition did not participate in the march, while opposition leaders did.
Participants also pressed for the release of French reporter Florence Aubenas and her translator, who were kidnapped Jan. 5 in Iraq. Many also remembered two Indonesian journalists who were shown flanked by masked gunmen in a video Friday.
Among the participants was Simona Torretta, an aid worker who was held hostage in Iraq for three weeks with a colleague before being released in September.
"Giuliana is one of us," Torretta said on a stage at the end of the march. "She has always shown solidarity with the suffering of the Iraqi people. Her voice is an important one."
In a stadium in Sicily, captains of the Messina and Juventus soccer clubs walked onto the pitch wearing T-shirts calling for Sgrena's release. The same appeal was expected to be launched at stadiums across Italy this weekend.
Meanwhile in Brazil, some 200 people rallied in Sao Paulo to appeal for the release of Joao Jose Vasconcellos, the Brazilian engineer seized Jan. 19 on his way to Baghdad airport. His relatives said the kidnappers still haven't contacted them.
Soon after his kidnapping, the militant Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed in an Al-Jazeera videotape to be holding him.
More than 190 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq in the past year, and more than 30 of the hostages were killed.