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Protesters post resistance vigil at site of NATO meet

"I'm here to say, `no to NATO,' so that Canada can maintain its peaceful reputation."

Janet Hawksley, protester

Protesters vowed on Saturday to maintain a resistance vigil outside a fenced-off Victoria hotel where 26 generals from the NATO military alliance were meeting to discuss the future of the alliance and its strategies to put down the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

About 300 protesters marched to the hotel chanting anti-NATO slogans, but there were no signs of violence or tensions that have erupted at other world gatherings involving military and political leaders

"I'm here to say, `no to NATO,' so that Canada can maintain its peaceful reputation," Janet Hawksley said.

The three-day military meeting is taking place in the midst of growing tension over the increasing violence in Afghanistan.

The generals are discussing long-term strategies, but have not yet provided any specifics about their talks.

The Canadian session of the NATO meetings follows statements from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan will not be extended beyond 2009 without a national consensus.

The protesters marched to the hotel chanting anti-NATO slogans in an effort to convince Harper to pull out of NATO, an alliance the protesters believe is ineffective.

Despite a heavy police presence, the mood remained peaceful except for the arrest of an elderly naked male cyclist on the front steps of the local legislature.

Protesters say they have a summons for the NATO leaders that says they have been convicted of international war crimes.

Protesters chanted "Bring down the generals" and "stop the NATO war machine."

They also yelled "jump, jump" when a man they believed to be a NATO general stood at his hotel balcony above the protesters.

Since 2002, 70 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have lost their lives in the war in Afghanistan.

Canada has about 2,300 soldiers in the country, mainly operating in Kandahar Province, the former stronghold of the Taliban.

The number of NATO troops has doubled over the past year, but that was largely because several thousand US forces already in Afghanistan were transferred to NATO command.
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