Actors urge world leaders to call off war

A group of leading British actors today urged the world’s leaders to call a halt to a crusade against countries which harbour terrorists.

The nine-strong group, which includes playwright Harold Pinter and Corin Redgrave, appealed to stop the ‘‘madness’’ of a new world war following last week’s attacks.

Writing in a British broadsheet, they said a war against Afghanistan, Iraq and the world’s poorest countries ‘‘will not rescue any victims of September 11, or make the cities of America and Europe safer’’.

The actors stressed that the war must be prevented for the sake of all who were killed in New York and Washington and their families, friends and loved ones.

The letter said: ‘‘Terrorism cannot be defeated by bombs, bullets or secret intelligence. Terrorism is the language of hatred and despair. Out of the carnage and rubble of a new crusade will come new terrorists, even more desperate and ruthless than before.

‘‘In Afghanistan, four million people are homeless and scores of thousands are starving or dying of cholera because of sanctions, imposed by the West in their attempt to force the Taliban government to hand over Osama bin Laden.

‘‘A million children in Iraq are dead or dying because of waterborne diseases and malnutrition caused by sanctions.

‘‘Human rights and civil liberties are being trampled on around the world as politicians call for tolerance while fanning the flames of intolerance with their preparations for war.’’

The actors - Maggi Hambling, Lynn Farleigh, Merlin Holland, Bryony Lavery, Jehane Markham, Kika Markham, Roger Lloyd Pack, Harold Pinter and Corin Redgrave - added: ‘‘We must make war, but on poverty.’’