Thousands march in London
2003-11-20 23:00
London - More than 100 000 protesters marched in London on Thursday against the state visit of US President George W Bush, undeterred by the Istanbul suicide bombings.
They noisily filed past the British parliament and Downing Street, the official residence of Prime Minister Tony Blair, to reach Trafalgar Square where they cheered the toppling of a giant papier-mache Bush effigy.
The tall bronze-coloured likeness - which portrayed Bush holding a missile saying "first strike" and with Blair in his pocket - was paraded at the head of the march before it was erected in Trafalgar Square.
To reinforce their point, organisers replayed video footage on a big screen of the felling in Baghdad on April 9 of a statue of Saddam Hussein with the help of US troops.
More than 5 000 police officers oversaw the demonstrators, many of whom were decked out in colourful wigs and armed with banners, drums and whistles.
"Wanted Bush and Blair for war crimes," read one banner.
"A killer comes to town," said another.
The protesters' passion seemed undented by the double suicide attack in Istanbul against the British consulate and the Turkish headquarters of the British banking group HSBC, which killed at least 27 people.
One demonstrator, Frank Ng, 15, from London said the bombings - which Britain suspects was the work of al-Qaeda - were "just another repercussion of US and British imperialist foreign policy".
"I want to show Bush he is not welcome," added another protester, student Eylem Doyan, 17. "He comes because he's got plans for the next war which will kill innocents."
"This is the largest march on a midweek day that this country has ever seen - it is absolutely overwhelming," said George Galloway, a member of parliament who was expelled from the Labour Party for his anti-war views.
Metropolitan Police chief Sir John Stevens said the biggest threat to security at the demonstration came from more than 1 000 protesters who had travelled from continental Europe intent on causing trouble.
Shortly after night fell, police said they had arrested 53 people since Bush's arrival two days ago for a variety of offences, but despite some skirmishes there had been no serious incidents.
"The peace operation so far has been very successful," said Stevens, whose police force negotiated the route with the Stop the War Coalition, organiser of several previous big anti-war marches.
Thursday's march was the culmination of a series of protests against Bush's visit organised by Stop the War, which spearheaded an unprecedented million-strong anti-war march on London's Hyde Park last February.
Bush returns to Washington on Friday.
- AFP