Posted on 02/14/2003 9:53:47 PM PST by TLBSHOW
War Protesters Plan Global Day of Rallies
LONDON - British activists geared up for a rally against war in Iraq that they hoped would draw 500,000 people Saturday, while protesters in New Zealand kicked off global anti-war demonstrations by flying a peace banner at the America's Cup.
A plane trailed a huge banner reading "No War — Peace Now" up a harbor in Auckland, New Zealand, as competitors left their bases for the international sailing competition.
British activists prepared for a rally in London's Hyde Park on Saturday that organizers hoped would draw 500,000 people — among the largest of displays planned worldwide to protest possible U.S. and British military action to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).
War opponents also planned a protest of up to 100,000 people Saturday near the United Nations (news - web sites) in New York. Police were planning extensive security that included snipers and radiation detectors.
On Friday, at least 150,000 people packed the streets of Melbourne, Australia, on Friday to protest any war on Iraq, to which Australia has already committed 2,000 troops.
An estimated 6,000 people joined a protest march Friday night in Tokyo, and a similar number marched to the U.S. Embassy in the Philippine capital, Manila. About 500 people demonstrated peacefully in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
The London demonstration is expected to include the Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) and Bianca Jagger were slated to appear.
"It's going to be a fantastic day, with blue sky," said Andrew Burgin of the Stop the War Coalition as he helped erect the stage and two large screens in Hyde Park. Organizers hoped to have a satellite link with fellow protesters in Europe.
About 70 singers, including performers from the shows "Les Miserables," "Chicago," "Rent," "The Lion King" and "Taboo," took to the stage Friday at the Criterion Theatre in central London to sing "Seasons Of Love," from "Rent."
Poetry readings and speeches were planned Friday night.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at protests around the world.
The three main organizers of London's march — the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain — predicted it would outstrip the anti-war march last autumn in which 400,000 people took part.
A march in Glasgow, Scotland, was to converge on a Labor Party conference in time for Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s speech.
The anti-war demonstration has not only irked the British government but also Iraqi opposition groups who hope to unseat Saddam.
Ahmed Agha Chalabi, human rights coordinator of the opposition Iraqi National Congress in London, accused protesters of aiming to prolong "the life of Saddam and extending the misery of the Iraqi people." He said only war would end Saddam's repression.
"We all have families in Iraq. If anyone is killed it won't be a cousin or relative of a demonstrator, but ours," said Chalabi.
Myers, a 20-year member of the anti-nuclear campaign, said it was the first time the group had marched against a Labor Party government.
"I never thought that leaders of Germany and France would be speaking for the people of Britain," Myers said.
Blair has been President Bush (news - web sites)'s strongest supporter in his threats to go to war with Iraq if Saddam Hussein does not get rid of his weapons of mass destruction. A British government spokesman said Friday the way to prevent war was for Saddam to cooperate with U.N. inspectors
I'm thinking they 're going to make the '99 Seattle protests look like a company picnic.
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