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London and Rome host anti-war rallies
LONDON, England -- Anti-war demonstrators have marched through London and Rome in protest against military plans for Iraq. Organisers of the London event said it would be one of the largest anti-war protests ever to be held in Europe. Police told CNN that it was estimated that 150,000 had taken part while the organisers said the attendance was double that. As the protesters held a rally in London's Hyde Park, thousands of flag-waving, whistle-blowing demonstrators took to the streets of Rome. Italy's far-left Communist Refoundation party, which organised the event, said more than 100,000 people joined the march. Police did not immediately give any estimates. U.S. President George W. Bush, supported by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, is leading the call for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would threaten military action against Iraq unless it complies with demands on re-admitting weapons inspectors. They want President Saddam Hussein to let in the inspectors so they can locate and destroy any weapons of mass destruction accumulated since 1998 inspectors were last in the country. Earlier this week Blair presented a dossier of evidence he says shows Iraq is a threat to the international community. (Full story) On Saturday morning, thousands gathered at the Embankment, in London, next to the River Thames, for a march through Westminster to Hyde Park where they were expected to hold a rally. Many in the crowds carried placards reading "Don't attack Iraq" and "Not in my name." Irial Eno, a 12-year-old girl carried a homemade banner which read: "Iraq is not our enemy, stop Bush." She told the Associated Press: "Iraq has already had lots of trouble. I just don't think that Bush should bomb them. So many people will die just for one man." Her mother Anthea Eno said: "There must be some other way. People are going to suffer, as always." The march -- organised by the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain -- will include London mayor Ken Livingstone and be addressed by former weapons inspections chief Scott Ritter. Ritter told CNN: "There has been no case made -- based on anything other than speculation -- that Iraq poses a threat."
Other speakers at Hyde Park will include anti-war Labour MPs, trades union leaders and a senior member of the Church of England. Andrew Burgin, a Stop the War Coalition spokesman, told CNN: "(Prime Minister Tony) Blair has some serious problems with the British public. "Opinion polls show 65-70 percent of people are now opposed to attacking Iraq. People see no reason for this attack on Iraq and it's like a tidal wave building up. It would be an unwise head of state who took his country to war against the wishes of his people." The Stop the War Coalition said that former Labour Cabinet minister and former ally of Blair, Mo Mowlam, was supporting the demonstration as was the Bishop of Bath and Wells. A message from Mowlam, the former Northern Ireland Secretary, would be read out at the march, organisers said, although the MP would not be appearing in person. Mowlam's message reads: "Go for it. Keep up the fight. It is crucial for the future of our country, our self-respect and our democracy." In Rome, Refoundation leader Fausto Bertinotti told Reuters: "Bush is isolated, but sadly that isolation might lead to a war. "War would push the world into turmoil." Many of the Italian marchers carried red flags and chanted anti-war slogans. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said last week that Italy had a duty to support U.S. diplomatic and military efforts to disarm Iraq, and compared Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. The latest opinion polls suggest that almost 70 percent of Italians are against the idea of going to war with Iraq. Both protests took place as Britain and U.S. officials led a diplomatic offensive to present details of a draft resolution aimed at forcing President Saddam Hussein to readmit weapons inspectors into Iraq to allies. (Full story)
Britain's William Ehrman, the deputy under-secretary of state for defence and national security, is travelling to Beijing this weekend while Peter Ricketts, the Foreign Office's political director, was heading to Paris and Moscow. Ricketts will join U.S. under-secretary of state Marc Groomsman in Moscow.
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