A rchive Date
[ 01-11-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Britain ]
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[http://www.islam-online.net/english/news/2002-11/01/article02.shtml
Thousands of London Protesters Condemn War on Iraq
LONDON, November 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Thousands of protesters held a rally in central London Thursday evening, October 31, to condemn British support for possible U.S. war against 12-year-sanction-hit Iraq.
"Our message is addressed to the MPs (members of parliament) and to the government," said Kevin Joss, a 47-year-old consultant, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The leaders lie to us, and we are here to represent the insulted people," he said, adding that the aim of war was to take control of Iraq's oil reserves, said AFP.
The Stop the War Coalition and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the principal organizers of the demonstration, which coincided with Halloween, said they wanted to "frighten" British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush.
"Halloween is a time when frightening things happen," said Ian Saville who was wearing a pumpkin on his head. Unlike Blair and Bush, "we want to keep Halloween for the imagination," he told AFP.
Not far away, a protester brandished a placard reading "The Blair Bush project," parodying the title of an American horror film.
Other placards read "Don’t Strike Iraq" and "Not in My Name".
Different groups of protesters gathered outside parliament before marching together to Downing Street under the careful eye of watching police officers.
Throughout the day people opposed to war in Iraq took part in demonstrations, student gatherings, road blocks and bicycle parades all around Britain.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said there had been a total of eight arrests for public order offences during the London protest.
Meanwhile, France suggested Thursday that the U.N. Security Council could meet foreign ministers, attending in place of ambassadors, as a way of resolving the six-week diplomatic deadlock over Iraq, the British Independent reported.
France and Russia remain opposed to a U.S.-U.K. draft that includes a threat of military action if Iraq fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. Paris wants a two-stage approach that would first give inspections a chance and leave consideration of war until later if Baghdad is obstructive.
President George Bush, who first called on the U.N. to pass a resolution on Iraq in a speech before the General Assembly September 12, also put pressure on the Security Council Thursday night, threatening to use military force. "Either the U.N. will do its duty to disarm Saddam Hussein. Or Saddam Hussein will disarm himself. In either case, if they refuse to act ... the U.S. will lead a coalition and disarm Saddam Hussein," he said.
Washington has been signaling with decreasing subtlety in recent days that it will soon give up on the U.N. and plan for war, with support from Britain. Such an outcome, however, would embarrass the U.N. and could undermine its authority for many years.
Sources at the U.N. said the notion of a meeting of the Security Council at foreign ministers' level had not been ruled out. "It could be a useful tool for moving us forward," one diplomat said. But it seemed unlikely that a summit could be arranged before next week.
Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, urged the Security Council to settle its differences. After meeting with ambassadors, accompanied by Mohammed El-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Agency, he said he had stressed the "importance of having agreement and broad unity in the Council".
Moscow and Paris circulated their own draft proposals at the end of last week. Raising the possibility of a Security Council session with foreign ministers, France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Le Figaro newspaper: "Our objective is now twofold; reaching a conclusion quickly, and doing so on the basis of as large a consensus as possible."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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