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AP. 5 March 2003. Thousands of high school students march in anti-war protests across Australia. SYDNEY -- Thousands of high school students across Australia cut class to march in demonstrations and protest Australia's likely involvement in an attack on Iraq. The protests in most of the country's major cities followed several marches and demonstrations in recent weeks in which hundreds of thousands of Australians have taken to the streets to voice opposition to a military campaign in Iraq. While Prime Minister John Howard is a staunch supporter of the tough U.S. line on Iraq and has not ruled out sending troops into action without a U.N. mandate, opinion polls show voters here oppose any action without U.N. backing. One student, Lauren Carol Harris, 15, said students from more than 70 Sydney high schools left class during their lunch breaks to march in protest. A student of Bradfield College in northern Sydney, Harris said students had joined together to create the "Books Not Bombs" coalition, a student anti-war group. Police arrested three people, news reports said. Traffic came to a standstill in Sydney and police on horseback watched the students -- many in their school uniforms, carrying banners that read: "Inspect U.S. Weapons Now" and "Don't Attack Iraq." There were also protests in the cities of Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and the national capital, Canberra. In the city of Melbourne, students from 53 high schools left their classes to join university students in protest, organizers said. "Every single person here knows exactly what's right, exactly what's wrong and you all know war is wrong," Claudia Quinnell, 18, told the rally of about 4,000. "We will not accept the Howard government's decision to send people to war," said another spokesman, 17-year-old Yorran Pelenakis. A police spokesman said the Melbourne crowd had been well-behaved, with no arrests. Australia has already sent 2,000 military personnel to the Gulf region to prepare for war. Later Wednesday, Muslim and Catholic clerics urged people, regardless of their religious persuasion, to fast as a form of protest. The Supreme Islamic Council of New South Wales chairman Gabr Elgafi called on Muslims to join their "brothers and sisters" of the Christian faith to pray for peace and urged "nonbelievers" to take part in the fast. "We believe that all religions have the same end which is to live in harmony, live in peace, love one another and be human to each other," Elgafi told reporters, as Catholics marked Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent -- the period of fasting and penitence leading up to Easter. "War will never resolve the issue. Terror only generates terrorists. Force will always be met by force," Elgafi said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org with photo --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html ==^================================================================
