The Hindu : Worldwide protests against war

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 16, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

Worldwide protests against war

LONDON FEB. 15. Anti-war protests today drew hundreds of thousands of people in cities around the world — from London to Canberra — united in their opposition to a threatened United States-led strike against Iraq.

One of the largest marches for peace — in which at least a million people participated — took place here. The organisers of the rally hoped to turn out half-a-million people and bring pressure on the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has been Europe's biggest supporter of the U.S. policy.

Hundreds of thousands marched through Berlin, backing the strong anti-war stance spearheaded by the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder. In Syria, a nation on the front line in the event of a war, some two lakh protesters marched through Damascus. In Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Brussels, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand, demonstrations attracted thousands, while the crowds were in the hundreds or less in Bosnia, Hong Kong and Moscow.

Crowds were estimated at 10,000 in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, 5,000 in Cape Town and 4,000 in Johannesburg in South Africa, 5,000 in Tokyo, and 2,000 in Dhaka.

In Baghdad, tens of thousands of Iraqis, many carrying Kalashnikovs, demonstrated to support Saddam Hussein and denounce the U.S. "Our swords are out of their sheaths, ready for battle," read one of the hundreds of banners.

Many Iraqis hoisted giant pictures of Mr. Hussein and some burnt the American and Israeli flags, while in neighbouring Damascus, protesters chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans as they marched to the People's Assembly. In Moscow, 300 people marched to the U.S. Embassy, with one placard urging the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to ``be firmer with America.''

Six hundred people rallied in downtown Hong Kong, as did 50 or so in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Demonstrators clogged a downtown park in Seoul, South Korea, to chant and listen to anti-war speeches. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people marched in Canberra, the Australian capital, to protest the Government support for the U.S. policy.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Uneasy truce between BJP and BSP in U.P.

England skipper may quit over Zimbabwe fiasco

Worldwide protests against war

Saddam will be disarmed: Bush

India pulls out of SAF Games

Kargil linked by air

Forex reserves swell

Now an embarrassing loss