Eleven activists, including three East Timorese and a journalist, were arrested early today Monday when they entered a factory site in the south of England to protest against the export of armoured vehicles to Indonesia. Seven were released after being held by police for fifteen hours but the three East Timorese and the journalist are still in custody.

The activists entered the premises of Glover Webb in Hamble, near Southampton, manufacturers of Tactica water cannon and armoured vehicles for export to Indonesia. They entered at 2 am Monday and gained access to a very large warehouse where Tactica water cannon, Hornet armoured vehicles, and armoured prison vans are being stored. They were inside the warehouse for about 45 minutes before the alarm system went off. A security guard discovered them and called the police who arrested them all. Besides the three East Timorese, whose identities have not yet been revealed, there were seven arms exports activists from East Anglia and a journalist/photographer from Smallworld who had joined the group to make a video of their action.

Before being discovered the activists managed to plaster the vehicles with posters saying, 'Not for export to Indonesia'.

The East Timorese have so far refused to cooperate with police interrogators, refusing to identify themselves, despite threats that they may be sent to a nearby detention centre for illegal immigrants.

Meanwhile, outside the factory premises later in the day, dozens of local activists from Campaign Against Arms Trade gathered to protest against the export of Glover Webb vehicles to Indonesia. The protesters had photographs of Tactica water cannon being used in a police show of force in Jakarta in April, in preparation for security operations against street protests during the Indonesian election campaign which is now underway. Local pressmen and TV crews covering the action took shots of the photographs which were taken from the Dutch daily Volkskrant and The Jakarta Post, Indonesia's leading English-language daily.

This is the first action against the Glover Webb company which has been exporting Tactica water cannon for several years.