Posted on 02/15/2003 9:05:36 AM PST by Pokey78
Millions of people worldwide are joining in demonstrations against a possible US-led war against Iraq. Hundreds of rallies and marches are taking place in up to 60 countries this weekend.
Crowds have been gathering in London, where a rally culminating in Hyde Park is expected to draw more than half a million protesters.
Massive demonstrations - a day after UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix issued a largely positive assessment of the UN's disarmament process in Iraq - are also being organised in Rome, Berlin and New York.
Tens of thousands of people braved bitter weather to converge on the German capital from the east and west of the city.
Along with France, Germany has been one of the most vociferous opponents of war with Iraq.
The BBC's Ray Furlong in Berlin says a real cross-section of people are taking part in the demonstration - young students, families with children, as well as pensioners - reflecting the strong anti-war feeling that runs right through German society.
And demonstrators in Paris are preparing to march on the city's traditional rallying point - the Place de la Bastille.
Some of the first protests on Saturday were seen in New Zealand, as environmental pressure group Greenpeace flew a plane over Auckland harbour trailing a banner reading "No War, Peace Now".
About 5,000 marched through Auckland and a similar number in the capital Wellington.
Rallies are being held in several cities in Australia, where a protest in Melbourne on Friday drew a crowd estimated by organisers at 150,000 - the largest there since anti-Vietnam War marches 30 years ago.
In Seoul - capital of South Korea, one of the staunchest US allies in Asia - hundreds of demonstrators rallied, shouting chants such as "Bush, Terrorist!" and carrying banners urging "Drop Bush, not bombs".
Celebrities
In London, organisers are confidently predicting the country's largest anti-war protest.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has suffered a fall in popularity following his staunch support of US plans to launch military action against Saddam Hussein.
"We believe that the London demonstration will be one of the biggest and the most pivotal because the British Government is actively involved in the build up to war and the British people definitely do not want war," said Stop The War UK leader Andrew Murray.
Speakers at the rally in Hyde Park include Charles Kennedy, leader of Britain's second-biggest opposition party and US activist Jesse Jackson.
In New York a protest is scheduled to start at 1200 local time (1700GMT) near UN headquarters - the currently scene of intense diplomatic discussions following Friday's report by Hans Blix.
Celebrities and activists such as Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and black activist Angela Davis will be attending the demonstration.
And they be joined by some families of the victims of the attack on the World Trade Center, marching as "9/11 Families for Peace."
Say it with flowers
Anti-war activists in Turkey are calling on fellow citizens to simultaneously turn off all lights at 2000 local time (2200 GMT) as a novel sign of support for anti-war sentiment.
In Malaysia - a predominantly Muslim state - hundreds demonstrated outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur bearing banners and placards with slogans such as: "No war. Stop US aggression" and "No more blood for oil".
And in Thailand about 2,000 people - mostly Muslims - rallied in front of the US and UK embassies in the capital on Saturday.
Protests of varying sizes were also reported in: Japan, Nepal, India, South Africa, Cyprus, Spain, Syria, Egypt and Iraq.
The tiny South Pacific island nation of Fiji also saw its share of anti-war sentiment, with an anti-war group sending floral messages to foreign embassies urging them to put pressure on the US and its allies to avoid war.
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Shows it's really anti W, anti capitalism, anti American.....not anti war.
Peace activists hold an American flag with a swastika on it as they march to the U.S. embassy in Athens during a huge anti-war rally February 15, 2003. Some 50,000 people participated in the rally during which violence erupted as dozens of hooded protesters clashed with riot police at the start of the rally, smashing several windows and burning a car. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis 
I guess it's catchier than "hurray for the Miami Hurricanes"
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