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Protestors greet Bush
21/06/2006 12:40 - (SA)
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| President Bush waves as he departs the White House for Vienna, Austria. (Ron Edmonds, AP) |
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Vienna - About 350 students chanting "Bush Go Home!" marched through Austria's capital on Wednesday to protest a visit by US President George W Bush for the US-European Union summit.
The students gathered at the Westbahnhof train station and set off on foot to a church square not far from the former imperial Hofburg Palace, where Bush was meeting with top European Union officials. No violence was reported.
Led by US "peace mom" Cindy Sheehan - who lost her son in Iraq and energised the anti-war movement last summer with her month-long protest outside Bush's Texas ranch - students waved black flags, blew whistles, banged on drums and shouted, "Hey, ho, Bush has got to go!"
'Mass murderer'
Others carried banners that read, "World's No. 1 Terrorist," and signs that included slogans such as "Mass murderer," "Islam is not the enemy" and "Against war and capitalism".
Protesters also sang "We will, we will fight Bush" to the tune of the rock band Queen's We Will Rock You.
"Bush should at least see that this is real, that people will protest," said demonstrator Darko Martinovikc, 20. "But in the end I don't think it will help much."
Security was tight at the palace, with some 1 000 police officers assigned solely to deal with demonstrators and 2 000 others patrolling the city, and authorities said protesters would not be allowed anywhere near the venue.
A larger demonstration expected to draw as many as 10 000 anti-Bush protesters was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Bush unpopular in Austria
Bush is unpopular in neutral, non-aligned Austria, where recent polls suggest fewer than three in 10 people support him.
Wednesday's protests were organised by a coalition calling itself "Bush Go Home." But organisers stressed that the demonstrations were intended to object to Bush's policies and should not be interpreted as anti-American.
Sabanija Alvin, 28, who watched the protest from the door of a pharmacy, was unimpressed.
"I've seen demonstrations in New York and London, and to me this seems a bit pathetic. It's like a big party," he said.
- AP
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