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South African protestors demand NATO forces out of Libya

10 August 2011 21:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A South African society group demanded the withdrawal of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces out of Libya on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The group named the South Africans for Peace in Africa Initiative handed over a memorandum to the U. S. embassy in Pretoria, demanding NATO "stop murdering innocent women and children" in Libya.

According to South African Press Association (SAPA), David Maimela, spokesman for the group, said, "NATO has no legitimate right to be in Libya. It must withdraw and do so unconditionally."

He rejected the West’s "re-colonization" of Africa.

In the memorandum, the initiative, which campaigns for peaceful resolution of conflicts on the continent, expressed concern about the destruction of clinics, hospitals, schools, houses and other facilities in Libya.

Almost 50 marchers sang and chanted as they walked to the embassy accompanied by police. They included students and members of the Pan Africanist Congress wearing white T-shirts bearing the slogan: "NATO stop bombing Libya now."

The group also criticized the United States for trying to be "policeman of the world" and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

U. S. Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau received the document and promised to send it to Washington. She took the group’s demands "very seriously."

The initiative wants an immediate withdrawal of this resolution, which the South African government supported when it was announced.

SAPA reported that the march also had support from the Young Communist League, the SA Council of Churches and the Muslim Judicial Council of SA.

Protesters dispersed peacefully after marching to the British High Commission and the French Embassy to deliver the same memorandum.