Bert De Belder

Seeing the horrible images of the American terrorist onslaught on a working class area in Baghdad (50 people killed), I grab the phone and ring Dr. Colette Moulaert in Hotel Palestine. She tells me that her colleague, Dr. Geert Van Moorter, has just left together with some journalists to go and visit the casualties in the hospitals.

'You know', says Colette,' it is dire to know that those bombs may have been transported through the port of Antwerp. You really must take action now to stop the military transports of the US. You must block those trains, by judicial means if possible, by other means if necessary. But move fast. A map shown on Al Jazeera revealed that B52s apparently fly over Belgium. Is that possible? Damnation! I do know that you are working hard in the anti-war campaign, but there's absolutely got to happen more.' Colette sounds miserable. 'People are dying here!' 

I convey to her a question of a very worried mother, Liliane Calinescu Alani, who lives in Belgium but has a son in Baghdad. She has not heard from him for two days and she asks us to ask Colette to try and phone him. Colette answers that the phone does not work anymore in Baghdad. 'From here you can only phone the US and the UK now. It must have been those states that have cut the line!' 

The internationalists in Baghdad also march against the war. Colette: "Today we had an action together with the 'human shields', on the roof of the building from where the journalists take their pictures. We shouted at the press people: 'do stop lying finally now!' We were carrying posters saying 'Bush go home!' It gave us a good feeling!"

Before ending our communication, Colette once more repeats that we absolutely must stop the military transports…