Belgian Police arrested 483 peace activists on Sunday as they attempted to gain access to NATO headquarters in Brussels. The activists trekked across fields and climbed over fences leading to the HQ but were stopped by up to 600 police officers in a 'heavy handed' repression of the protest.

 

The demonstration was organized by Action for Peace as a preemptive protest ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago next month.

The action was called to protest NATO's intervention in Afghanistan and Libya as well as global nuclear arming.

"We neither want the anti-missile shield, nor intervention by NATO in Libya or Afghanistan, nor nuclear bombs that are illegal in our country," said Benoit Calvi, a spokesman for Action for Peace.