Bush's effigy toppled to huge cheers from protesters

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 21, 2003

Bush's effigy toppled to huge cheers from protesters

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An effigy of US President George W.Bush was pulled down to thunderous cheers from tens of thousands protesters in Trafalgar Square in central London on Thursday evening, marking the high point of the largest demonstration against his visit to Britain.

Organizers said some 200,000 people from all over the country joined the march past parliament and government ministries to gather in the Trafalgar Square, making it the biggest ever workday protest Britain has ever seen. Police on the scene gave Xinhua the same figure.

The 18-feet (about 3.7 meters) papier-mache mock statue, which depicted Bush in a suit holding a missile bearing the words "first strike," was supposed to resemble the Saddam Hussein statue toppled by US troops in Baghdad during the Iraq war.

Some protesters jumped up and down on the fallen effigy, while many others raised wild applause, blew whistles, waved flags and banners with words like "Oil thief go home," "End the occupation on Iraq" and "Bush biggest threat to world peace."

"This phenomenal response shows the depth of feeling of the British public towards this visit," a Stop The War Coalition spokesman said.

"Bush is a war criminal. He just wants to control the world," said Christopher Williams, a 52-year-old protester from Bristol, a port city in western England.

Many protesters said Bush's foreign policies have increased the danger of future terror attacks and therefore should be blamed for the bombings in Istanbul taking place hours earlier in the day.

"The attack on Iraq would not end terrorism... More American soldiers have been killed in Iraq this year than the first year of the Vietnam War," a protest leader told the rally fully occupying the Trafalgar Square.

Bush is an unpopular figure in Britain. An opinion poll by The Times newspaper showed only one in four voters approved of his handling of the Iraq war.

And as a result of being the staunchest US ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's political reputation has also been deeply damaged. Half of those asked by the poll believed Blair's close alliance with Bush has been bad for Britain.

The daily protests, which will continue until Bush ends his three-night visit Friday, are widely thought as the price Blair has to pay for following Bush's lead into the war with Iraq.

With Britain's general elections being only one and a half years away, Blair will hardly be able to shift the voters' attention to domestic issues to quell the dissatisfaction of various political forces, local media have warned.

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