From: SV Rainbow Warrior http://www.greenpeace.org
Date: Received MON 14-AUG-95

UPDATE FROM THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Two months to the day after President Chirac's decision to resume French testing, Greenpeace's vessel Rainbow Warrior departed Suva, Fiji yesterday enroute to joint an international peace flotilla gathering near Moruroa. About 200 people gathered on the dock to say farewell -- with strains of "Now is the Hour" and traditional Fijian songs of farewell in our ears, we pulled out on time at 12 noon.

Our departure also coincided with protests at the Pacific Games, which have just begun in Tahiti. Anti-nuclear activists are protesting at the Games, and at least four South Pacific countries are boycotting them. Meanwhile, 9000 people demonstrated in Western Samoa at the weekend - a huge turnout for a nation of around 160,000 people.

President Clinton's announcement on Friday that the U.S. will not carry out any news nuclear tests is good news. He has said that the US will support a comprehensive, zero-yield test ban treaty. He has decided to over-rule the military, who wanted low-yield and hydro-nuclear tests of up to a few hundred tonnes. It's a pity President Chirac is not paying so much attention to public sentiment about testing -- although France announced similar intentions on Thursday, their eight eminent nuclear tests speak more loudly about lack of commitment to disarmament than any fine words at the Conference on Disarmament going on now in Geneva.

We're motoring into the wind with cloudy skies and a slight swell. We expect to arrive in Papeete on August 23rd.

More news as our journey continues.

Stephanie Mills on board the Rainbow Warrior