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AP. 14 March 2003. Global anti-war protesters insist not to late to head off U.S.-led attack on Iraq. CAIRO, TOKYO, SEOUL, BANGKOK and NICOSIA -- Anti-war protesters took to the streets around the globe Saturday, determined to keep the pressure on world leaders even as a U.S.-led attack on Iraq looks more likely. The outpouring of anti-war sentiment came one month after millions turned out for some of the biggest demonstrations in decades in capitals around the world. But amid the chants of "give peace a chance" were pessimistic voices as well. "This is a symbol," said Mohammed Abdel Qudos, a writer who joined about 300 marchers at the Cairo University. "We know that we won't prevent war, but we are just expressing our opposition." The intimidating presence of more than 1,000 police kept many onlookers, like law student Mohammed Said Ahmed, on the sidelines. "I think the demonstrations are useless," he said. "Nothing will change. ... It won't influence the decision-makers in Egypt." Yet marchers elsewhere insisted war was not inevitable. "We feel that there's still time to get our government to change policy," said Nic Maclellan, march coordinator in Melbourne, Australia, where Prime Minister John Howard is a staunch supporter of Washington's hard-line stance on Iraq. Across the Middle East and Europe, protesters called for a peaceful resolution of the Iraq crisis. Another march was planned for outside the White House itself. "The strength of the movement has prevented a war from happening before now," Tony Murphy of the International ANSWER coalition, the main protest organizer, said in Washington. "We feel that it's not too late for the people to stop this war." About 10,000 Japanese -- double last month's turnout -- chanted "No war!" as they moved through Tokyo's business district with handmade placards such as "World Peace" and "Bush the terrorist." "When I imagine Iraqi children desperately running around in battlefields, I just couldn't sit around the house waiting for that to happen," said Chizuko Matsuno, a 62-year-old housewife. Two thousand South Koreans threw paper doves into the evening sky in downtown Seoul, while some of the 300 protesters in Hong Kong wore mock oil barrels -- suggesting that oil, not Iraqi disarmament, is behind the war drive. In Thailand, about 1,000 people protested outside a U.N. office in Bangkok, listening to speeches from a makeshift stage that was later turned over for karaoke singing. Tens of thousands of Yemenis heeded President Ali Abdullah Saleh's call to turn out for anti-war rallies that were held amid tight security measures. Jordanian activists were to march to the U.N. offices in Amman. Some 3,000 Greek Cypriots marched to the U.S. Embassy and hung cloth banners with anti-war messages on the barbed-wire barricades. A day after millions stopped work for 15 minutes in cities around Europe, street demonstrations planned included a march by British Muslims past the London embassies of Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Qatar and Pakistan. "Without the cooperation of these regimes it would be virtually impossible for America to invade Iraq," said Zafer Iqbal, whose soft drink company Qibla Cola is sponsoring the march. The anti-war campaign was to continue Sunday with candlelight vigils in more than 1,000 cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org with photos --------------------------- 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 ==^================================================================
