Four anti-war activists occupied the runways at Britain's biggest air force base today to protest a looming US-led military strike on Iraq, their spokeswoman said.
The activists locked their arms together in metal cylinders and lay at the junction of two runways at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in a bid to stop any transport planes carrying military personnel from taking off.
The group's spokeswoman, Ms Kathryn Tulip, said police were at the scene trying to work out a way to remove the protesters without injuring them.
In London, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman confirmed that protesters had got into the base and were trying to disrupt outgoing flights. No other details were available.
Today's protest came as 360 troops were due to fly out of RAF Brize Norton to join other British forces massing in the Gulf for possible action against Iraq.
Some 1,000 soldiers, including paratroopers, departed yesterday from the base, the hub of the Royal Air Force's transport and air-to-air tanker fleet.
AFP