RICHMOND’S Stopwar group is to carry out a weekly leafleting campaign calling for justice for Iraq.

At the Tuesday meeting of the group, the chairman, Canon Julian Reindorp said: "Desperation and despair breed guerrilla warfare. It does not take much imagination to understand what it must be like in present day Iraq. With very little electricity, sewage treatment and fresh water, no protection from armed looters and a severe food shortage, made worse by the breakdown of the distribution system, the people are daily becoming more desperate."

"We can only hope that these conditions quickly improve. Meanwhile, we must do everything we can to support the work of the United Nations and the aid agencies in their work of reconstruction."

The meeting agreed to carry out the leafleting campaign calling for the public to write to Government Ministers protesting about conditions in Iraq.

Organiser Jill Grist said: "This battle will not be won overnight. We are digging in for a long fight to persuade government never again to embark on such a foolhardy and immoral venture.

"Every week there are more organised groups of people springing up dedicated to the cause of justice in Iraq. They are supported by the national Stopwar coalition which at a conference last Saturday agreed to expand its work.”