Anti-war protesters march in London on Iraq war anniversary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 21, 2004

Anti-war protesters march in London on Iraq war anniversary

More than 25,000 anti-war protesters took to the streets of London on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, demanding an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq.

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More than 25,000 anti-war protesters took to the streets of London on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, demanding an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq.

Braving strong winds and rain, the protesters marched from HydePark through central London, shouting anti-war slogans to air their anger at British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush who launched the war a year ago.

Anti-war campaigners inflated a model of a Trident missile, accompanied by activists dressed up as weapons inspectors.

The demonstration culminated in a rally in Trafalgar Square where speakers including London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Maverick Glasgow MP George Galloway addressed the crowd.

"Just because they call themselves the international community,that doesn't mean their actions are right," Galloway said. He urged voters to turn the 10 June European elections into a referendum on Tony Blair's future.

Between speeches, the crowd took part in a minutes silence and thousands of black balloons were released in memory of those killed in the Iraq conflict, as well as the victims of the terrorist attack on Madrid.

The anti-war event has been backed by the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain, which organized a million-strong demonstration in London against the impending war a year ago.

Earlier, two Greenpeace activists breached security at the Houses of Parliament and scaled London's landmark Big Ben at around 6 am and unfurled a banner saying "Time for Truth." They were forced down by high winds at around 1 pm and were immediatelyarrested.

Harry Westaway, one of the climbers, said in a statement: "We have achieved what we wanted. It's wet and windy but it's worth it.It's about time Tony Blair told us the truth."

Elsewhere in Europe on Saturday, thousands took to the streets of Rome and Madrid in protest at the war. ��

Source: Xinhua

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