TWO Swindon delegates are to be sent to an international anti-war conference in Egypt.
Andy Newman, the secretary of the Swindon Stop The War Coalition, and Deborah Schofield, who is also a member of the coalition, will be among more than 1,000 delegates from across Europe and the Middle East at the conference in Cairo on December 13.
Other peace campaigners due to attend include politicians Tony Benn, George Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn, and Yvonne Ridley, the journalist captured by the Taliban while travelling in disguise through Afghanistan.
Andy said: "I am hoping to speak at the conference to explain about local opposition to the US air force using RAF Fairford to bomb Iraq.
"Ahmed Ben Bella, who led the Algerian war of independence is chair of the conference. This is a fantastic opportunity for peace activists to meet up with others who share the same concerns.
"Although Egypt claims to be a democracy there are very few civil rights in the country and it is illegal for five or more people to gather in the street. So we Western delegates are partly there as a human shield to guarantee the safety of the conference."
The Cairo conference is the second meeting called by the International Campaign against US aggression.
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