Bush toppled
2003-11-20 20:00
London - Cheering protesters toppled an effigy of George W Bush in London's Trafalgar Square on Thursday, the high point of their biggest protest against the United States president's state visit to Britain.
About 70 000 people were taking part in the protest, said the metropolitan police. Organisers put the figure at 200 000.
The huge papier-maché effigy, painted bronze to resemble the Saddam Hussein statue brought down by US troops in Baghdad last April, was pulled down by ropes at the foot of the square's monument to naval hero Horatio Nelson.
A huge cheer went up, and many of the demonstrators - some in hardhats and worksuits - jumped up and down on the fallen effigy, which depicted Bush in a suit holding a missile with the words "first strike" on it.
Carried live on television, it was the climax of a series of protests this week against Bush's visit and the Iraqi war. Bush returns to Washington on Friday.
- AFP