Six members of New Hampshire Peace Action were arrested last week after refusing to leave U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg's Concord office. Fourteen members of the group were in Gregg's office to request a public meeting with the senator about America's exit strategy from Iraq.

Anne Miller, director of NHPA, said the group has made four written requests for a public meeting. "Hundreds of constituents" have signed the letters asking Gregg to meet with voters and discuss U.S. policy in the Middle East, she said. The group's efforts began on April 12, when the group hand-delivered a letter to Gregg's Washington, D.C., office. Since then, members of NHPA have held daily sit-ins in his Concord office, reading off the names of American and Iraqi casualties of war. Two more letters requesting a meeting were ignored, Miller said.

Last Thursday, the group held another sit-in, this time refusing to leave until they received an answer from Gregg. When the office was about to close for the day, they were asked to leave.

"When five o'clock came, we insisted on waiting to hear from the senator...at which time we were arrested," she said.

The six who remained in the office were charged with criminal trespass, Miller said, and will be arraigned on July 6.

"We're not allowed near the senator's office until that time," she said. "There are other people who are interested in continuing the sit-ins."

At press time, Sen. Gregg's office had not returned calls seeking a comment.

Miller said NHPA wants a meeting with the senator because she said many Americans no longer approve of the war in Iraq. She cited a study by the National Priorities Project, a federal budget watchdog group, which shows the Iraq war is costing N.H. taxpayers more than $860 million. The study can be found at www.nationalpriorities.org.

"We believe we're really with the mainstream in making this request," she said.

The arrests won't deter the group from engaging in future civil disobedience efforts, according to Miller.

"This is just the beginning," she said.