Former AG testifies in Shannon aircraft case

A former US attorney general said yesterday that an anti-war activist's action in damaging a US aircraft at Shannon was like taking bullets out of a gun and was an act of defence against a war of aggression.

On the third day of the trial of Ms Mary Kelly (50), formerly of the peace camp in Shannon, Mr Ramsey Clark told a jury at Ennis Circuit Court: "Mary Kelly acted to disarm a war plane and preserve the peace. Property is not sacrosanct.

"If the world had her conscience and courage, there would not have been a war in Iraq," he added

Ms Kelly denies the criminal damage without lawful excuse of a US Navy aircraft at Shannon airport on January 29th and trespass at the airport on the same date.

The court has already heard that the estimated cost of the damage to the aircraft is $1.5 million. The second US-based witness to give evidence on Ms Kelly's behalf, Mr Clark said: "The plane was part of a war of aggression, and Mary Kelly sought to intervene in a symbolic way to disarm one plane."

Mr Clark (75) told the court that he served under President John F. Kennedy and as attorney general during President Lyndon Johnson's administration between 1967 and 1969.

He also told the court that in more recent times he had a written a number of books on the effects UN sanctions have had on the people of Iraq. "What Mary Kelly did was in harmony with the law and was trying to preserve life against US aggression. What she did was like taking bullets out of a gun."

The jury of six men and six women also heard yesterday from a volunteer worker, Mr Michael Birmingham (32), who told of what life was like in Iraq today after the recent war.

Mr Birmingham, from Balbriggan, Co Dublin, said he returned from Baghdad four days ago to give evidence in the trial. Law-and-order had broken down in Baghdad since the war ended with a number of families he knew living under virtual house arrest.

However, Mr Stephen Coughlan challenged the relevancy of this evidence, saying it was highly emotive and had nothing to do with the charge of criminal damage and trespass before the court.

Judge Carroll Moran said the hearing was becoming close to political, but he allowed Mr Birmingham to resume his evidence.

The trial continues today.