In Greece, uproar over plan to dispose of Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean
ATHENS, Greece — From priests and environmentalists to trawlers and tour operators, thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Crete Sunday to protest a United Nations program designed to destroy Syrian chemical weapons in the Mediterranean, turning one of the most popular holiday hot spots in Europe into a potential graveyard of drifting, highly toxic agents.
Staged in Arkadi, a small village tucked in the highlands of Crete and reknown for a bloody local revolt against Ottoman occupiers 150 years ago, the protest marks the latest show of local resistance to the international operation, which demonstrators deem the deadliest threat yet to the environment and their livelihood. Crete police and organizers contacted by phone, put the number of demonstrators at over 10,000, making the protest the biggest yet in Europe against the United States-led decommission plan.
“We will not let this happen,” said Yannis Haronitis, an activist and protest organizer. “They want to destroy these weapons — well, let them turn Syria’s back yard into a toxic waste dump, not ours.”
Under an agreement brokered by the United States and Russia, all of Syria’s chemical arsenal must be decommissioned and destroyed by June 30 — a goal that is becoming increasingly unlikely amid missed deadlines and foot-dragging by Damascus.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/03/23/in-greece-uproar-over-plan-to-dispose-of-syrian-chemical-weapons-in-the-mediterranean/
