Some 1, 000 members Greek Communist Party (KKE) gathered Sunday morning at Chania and protested the presence of coalition vessels and aircraft at Souda Bay, Crete. Beginning of the month the same group protested the presence of USS Kearsarge at Souda Bay. In Athens the KKE has called for a protest rally at 6 pm at Syntagma Square on Sunday.
Greek Communists are fiercely oppose any military involvement of Greece against Libya. Criticism came also from the left-wing party SYRIZA and the far-right party LAOS. In a statement the KKE dencounced the “the military intervention in Libya unleashed by international imperialist powers ” and demanded the immanent close down of US and NATO bases in Souda Bay and Aktio and withdrawal of Greek warplanes and ships.
After the UN Security Resolution on No Fly Zone over Libya, Greece declared, it will support the coalition forces, it will let its military bases to be used for refuelling purposes and it will have a small contribution for humanitarian and NFZ surveillance missions under a NATO umbrella.