PRESS RELEASE
Voices UK [A]
16th October 2003

Anti-war activists (and dog) finish 2003 km walk for peace in 2003.

Friday 17th, Chester: Two anti-war campaigners – and one very tired but photogenic dog– will be finishing a 2003 km trek for peace this Friday. The trio, vet Richard Byrne (31), his fiancée Anna-Marie Higgs (30) and lurcher Ernie (9) set out from Plymouth on April 21st and have been walking along the west coast of Britain with a peace flag ever since.

Richard Byrne, a member of the solidarity group Voices in the Wilderness UK [A],
travelled to Iraq in January 2001 on a sanctions-breaking trip to protest the impact of the embargo on ordinary Iraqis. Part of the proceeds raised by the walk will be donated to the group.

Richard said ‘In a year in which Tony Blair and George Bush did all they could to set back the cause of world peace we thought it would be good to do our own little it to raise British people’s awareness regarding this insane ‘war on terror’.’

Photo opportunity: Richard, Anna-Marie and their highly photogenic dog Ernie (wearing a rucksack displaying the number of km walked) will be available for interview /
photographs in Chester on the 17th.

For more information contact 07919 835 522

NOTES
[A] Voices UK is a group campaigning in solidarity with the people of Iraq. Between Feb. 1998 and May 2002 Voices UK sent 11 sanctions-breaking delegations to Iraq to protest the grave humanitarian impact on ordinary Iraqis of UN economic sanctions.