LJUBLJANA: ANTI-GLOBALISTS, NATO OPPONENTS STAGE PROTESTS

LJUBLJANA, March 26 (Hina) - Information that Slovenia is on a list of Central and East European countries to receive US military assistance caused protests of anti-globalists and opponents of Slovenia's admission to NATO in Ljubljana on Wednesday. #L# One such group protested in front of the parliament shouting "We Don't Want Bloody Money!". According to some reports, the list, which was made public on Tuesday, includes countries which support the USA in the war against Iraq in a military or political sense and are to receive assistance. The Slovene Defence Ministry said in a statement the assistance was probably regular annual assistance, of which in the past five years the Slovene army had received 18 million dollars, and not a "reward" for membership in the US-British coalition. The chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, Jelko Kacin, said the assistance might still be additional funds for Slovenia's political support for the anti-terror coalition established after the attack on the USA in 2001. (hina) rml sb