ACNS 'One of the best ways to help Africa is to stop the Arms Trade

ACNS 4219     |     SCOTLAND     |     29 NOVEMBER 2006=20

'One of the best ways to help Africa is to stop the Arms Trade'

This will be part of a call on the Ministry of Defence by the Most Rev
Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, when he
presents a Petition containing about 20,000 signatures calling for the
government not to invest in a replacement for Trident, and to begin the
process of decommissioning nuclear weapons. The Petition will be handed
to the Ministry of Defence in London on Friday 1 December at 2.30pm.

The Primus says, "The Churches in Scotland have consistently spoken out
against the use of nuclear armaments. A wider issue is that of the arms
trade in general which generates huge sums for the economy but puts into
the hands of irresponsible and brutal men weapons that they use to kill,
maim and torture others. It fuels on-going violence in many nations
across the world - Christian partners in Africa say that the best help
we could give them is to stop the arms trade.

"We have discovered the will to prevent smoking from ruining the lives
of non-smokers by ending smoking in public areas; when will the world's
governments have the same will to prevent the arms trade from causing
suffering to hundreds and thousands of people around the world?"

Joining the Primus in presenting the Petition to the Ministry of Defence
will be the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland and Richard McCready of the Scottish Catholic
Church.

Members of the Scottish Episcopal Church joined in the recent Long Walk
for Peace - an 85 mile walk from Faslane to the Scottish Parliament.

Article from: The Episcopal Scottish Church - www.scotland.anglican.org

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