The Hindu : Anti-war protesters take to the streets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

International

International

Anti-war protesters take to the streets

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MARCH 20. Thousands of anti-war protesters poured into London on Saturday as a deeply divided Britain looked back in anger and frustration on the first anniversary of the Iraq invasion.

The protests took a dramatic turn when two Greenpeace activists, both brothers from Sussez, climbed up the Big Ben and waved a banner declaring "Time for Truth''. They took the police by surprise and refused to come down until bad weather forced them to relent after staying on at the historic clock tower for several hours in what was regarded as a serious security lapse.

"We have achieved what we wanted. It is wet and windy but it is worth it. It is about time Tony Blair told the truth,'' they said as the police whisked them away.

Undeterred by rain and blustery winds, demonstrators started collecting at Hyde Park since early morning and later walked to Trafalgar Square raising slogans and carrying anti-Blair, anti-Bush and anti-war banners.

At a rally, attended among others by the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, speakers highlighted the post-war anarchy in Iraq and sought to link the rise in terrorism to the invasion of Iraq. Prominent figures from a cross-section of British life took part in the rally hailed by organisers as one of the most successful anti-war events since the one-million strong march held in London on the eve of the Iraq invasion.

Protesters, who had come from across Britain, debunked the British and U.S. claims that Iraqis were happier after the removal of the Saddam Hussein regime and pointed to a BBC report, telecast only on Friday night, in which Iraqis were shown complaining about increased insecurity and unemployment.

"We are continuing to march because we want to make clear the strength of anti-war feeling. Everything we said about the war has come true and everything the Government said has turned out to be a lie,'' said a spokesman for Stop the War Coalition, one of the many groups behind Saturday's protests.

The mood across Britain was bitter. CND campaigners staged a sit-in at Menwith Hill, a U.S. intelligence base in North Yorkshire, and demonstrations against the Blair Government's `militaristic' agenda were held in various parts of the country. The legacy of the Iraq war dominated the media with The Independent newspaper devoting its entire front page to what it called "A year of war that made the world a more dangerous place''.

Anger remains sharp

AP reports:

Anger over the war remained sharp as protesters took to the streets in Europe and Asia, urging an end to the coalition occupation which they linked to international terrorism.

Demonstrators also marched in India, Egypt, Turkey and the Philippines — where they clashed with riot police, though no injuries were reported.

In Egypt, anti-American feelings ran high as several hundred people gathered in Cairo's main square to denounce the invasion. Several thousand riot police cordoned off Tahrir square and the main streets leading to it while protesters burned copies of the U.S. flag.

In Greece, more than 10,000 people marched to the U.S. Embassy in Athens, protesting the war in Iraq and government plans to have NATO assist in the security of the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

As many as 30,000 people turned out in Tokyo to protest Japan's involvement in the war, organisers there said.

The country has sent 1,000 personnel to Iraq, its largest foreign deployment since the Second World War. Protesters also gathered in Thailand, South Korea, South Africa, Poland, Sweden and in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Socialist Party of Spain's Prime Minister-elect, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, on Saturday repeated its intention to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq unless the United Nations takes charge there.

In Turkey, one of Iraq's neighbours, about 2,000 anti-American demonstrators protested the war in Ankara and Istanbul before dispersing peacefully amid tight security.

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