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U.K. protesters seek end to war

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Three days after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans to cut the number of British troops in Iraq, hundreds of anti-war activists held rallies in London and Glasgow on Saturday demanding a complete British withdrawal.

Protesters carried banners and raised slogans against continuing British military involvement in Iraq as they marched through central London in what was claimed to be one of the biggest peace marches since the million-strong rally of February 2003.

"Troops cut insufficient"

"Whether 2,000 troops come home this year or not, it is too little too late and we must intensify our call for all troops to be withdrawn now and for Britain to break the link with George Bush's foreign policy," said Lindsey German of Stop the War coalition which had organised the march in tandem with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Initiative.

The protesters, who came from all over Britain to have their voices heard, braved cold and wet weather as they gathered at Hyde Park and then wound their way to Trafalgar Square where they were addressed by leading political leaders and rights activists. A number of celebrities from the entertainment world also joined the protest.

Families of soldiers killed in Iraq, meanwhile, set up a "peace camp'' outside Downing Street to demand a meeting with Mr. Blair and an end to the war.

They handed in a letter urging the Prime Minister to bring British soldiers back home. There was anger that he had refused to meet them despite their repeated requests. In Glasgow, an anti-war rally, led by prominent political and religious figures, was held at George Square.

The protests, which were also aimed at pressing Mr. Blair to drop plans to replace Britain's Trident nuclear missile system, came as a controversy erupted over reports that Britain was in secret talks with America to join its controversial "Son of Star Wars'' programme.

Lawmakers are due to vote later this year on Mr. Blair's recommendation to replace Britain's four nuclear-powered submarines, which are each capable of carrying up to 16 nuclear-armed Trident missiles.

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