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Down but not out, protesters keep WTO in sight

Some protesters want to sink the World Trade Organisation, the flagship of international commerce. Others would settle for a sea change in policy.

Seen as a pillar of the international economic system -- along with the International Monetary Fund -- the WTO has long drawn the ire of those who feel that trade rules are stacked in favour of rich and powerful states.

The views are felt as ardently as ever, but as the WTO prepares to kick off its biennial ministerial meeting in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar on Friday, its opponents say that it may be difficult this time to get them across.

After September's attacks on the United States, decision makers have retreated behind ever higher security barriers, increasing their isolation, while public opinion in the West is taking a dimmer view of even peaceful protest, they say.

"September 11 had a profound effect," said Phil Bloomer, head of advocacy at Oxfam, referring to the day on which suspected Islamic militants flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing thousands.

"It is difficult to sustain criticism of US trade policy without being construed as anti-US," he added.

"The whole world did change after September. The anti-WTO protest movement has lost a bit of momentum," echoed Guy Taylor of Global Resistance, a London-based anti-globalisation group.

The sheer cost of getting to the Qatari capital, Doha, and the limits organisers set on numbers of those allowed to attend meant non-governmental organisations were always going to struggle to be present in force at the November 9-13 meeting.

And the choice of venue ensures that there will be no repeat of the 'Battle of Seattle' when violent elements within anti-globalisation groups brought chaos to the streets of the US city during the last WTO ministerial meeting two years ago.

Many Seattle delegates were trapped for hours in their rooms by the street clashes which forced the cancellation of the opening ceremony.

Protesters later claimed that the vehemence of the demonstrations contributed to the eventual failure of the meeting -- with developing states rejecting calls by rich countries to launch a new round of negotiations to liberalise world trade.

NO TO NEW ROUND

"All big protests need a lot of local people to get involved and there are certainly not going to be any local protesters amongst the Qataris," said Taylor.

Rather than fear of protests, it is fear of possible attack by groups linked to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, blamed by Washington for the September outrages, that has triggered massive security precautions in Doha where many countries will be sending reduced delegations.

As in Seattle, rich countries want backing for a new round of multilateral talks to lower barriers to trade, saying it would give a shot in the arm to an ailing world economy.

Once again, NGOs with interest in the trade issue and the anti-globalisation movement are virtually unanimous in opposing a new round, at least on the terms proposed by the most developed countries.

"We believe a completely new round would be inappropriate when many developing countries are still struggling to get what they were promised from previous rounds," said Bloomer.

"First the rich states have to deliver on their promises to open up their markets," he added.

Much of the NGO criticism of the operations of the WTO finds an echo in the positions of the poorer developing countries who have long argued that they have gained too little so far from trade liberalisation.

From foot-dragging by the European Union on textile imports from developing states, to the increasing use by the United States of its laws against so-called 'dumping' of cheap goods in its domestic market, the poorer states and their supporters say they are getting a raw deal.

"The tools we used in the US to develop are the same policy tools that the WTO seeks to remove from the developing countries to help them develop. We need (trade) rules but the WTO has overreached itself," said Lori Wallach, director of the US NGO Public Citizens' global trade watch.

DIVIDED THEY STAND

But that is not to say that the NGOs and the anti-globalisation movement are united on what changes they would like to see to trade rules and to the WTO itself.

While cheaper medicine to treat the Third World's sick -- which activists say is denied by rich states' insistence on patent rights for their drugs -- may inspire unanimous support, there are other issues where divisions run deep.

Union groups such as the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which has called a series of demonstrations around the world to coincide with the WTO gathering, demand that trade be used as a weapon to press for better working conditions in poor countries.

Such demands are rejected by developing country NGOs -- as they are by their governments -- because they see them as a covert form of protectionism.

Similarly, when Greenpeace argues for more attention to be paid to environmental questions in world trade -- something the European Union demands -- developing countries smell a rat.

KEEP FLAG FLYING

While the WTO's critics may not get much of a hearing in Qatar, they are nevertheless determined that the flag of protest will keep flying.

Demonstrations have been planned for a number of cities in Europe and elsewhere -- with some 8,000 people turning out for a march through central London on Saturday to demand greater justice in international trade.

Greenpeace has been given permission to anchor its Rainbow Warrior vessel in Qatar harbour -- where it will join US naval ships standing by to evacuate US personnel in the event of a 'terrorist' attack.

"If the WTO thought it would silence us then it is wrong. We will continue until the rules change, so if they really want us to go away they will have to change," said Wallach.

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