-Caveat Lector-
A World Against the War
By Andy McSmith
Political Editor, Independent UK
Sunday 19 January 2003
Washington leads demos across globe; Blix heads for Iraq as threat of
conflict grows; Blair tries to calm rebels.
In the biggest day of protest the world has yet seen against a war in
Iraq, from Washington to Tokyo, Liverpool to Damascus, hundreds of
thousands of demonstrators across four continents took to the streets
yesterday.
The US was the scene of the biggest anti-war demonstration of George
Bush's presidency, with hundreds of thousands of people braving freezing
weather to join protests in Washington, San Francisco and other cities,
despite the near-unanimous support for war on Capitol Hill and in the US
media.
There was also a series of smaller anti-war demonstration in Great
Britain, including a two-hour protest outside the Permanent Joint
Headquarters of the British Armed Forces in Northwood, north London.
There were anti-war rallies or vigils in Bradford, Bristol, Hereford,
Liverpool and Glasgow.
There were similar demonstrations across France and Germany, in Russia,
Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, Pakistan and in the Middle East. One of the
largest was in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The protests were made against the background of a continuous build-up of
troops in the Gulf, and renewed political pressure on the Iraqi
government to surrender any weapons of mass destruction.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Military Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said in Rome that the build-up to war was "totally reversible".
"The key to that is the Iraqi regime itself," he added. "They hold the
keys to whether or not there's going to be conflict."
This was reinforced by a warning from United Nations weapons inspectors
that they expected more co-operation from the Iraqi government.
The chief UN inspector, Hans Blix, and International Atomic Energy Agency
director-general, Mohamed El Baradei, are due in Baghdad today for two
days of talks.
Mr Blix, in Cyprus yesterday after meeting the Prime Minister, Tony
Blair, at Chequers, said: "There has been access everywhere. But on
substance there has not been sufficient co-operation. We need to have
sincere and genuine co-operation."
The two officials are due to make their report to the UN Security Council
on 27 January. Tony Blair has emphasised that this is not a "deadline"
and may not be the end of the inspection process.
Mr Blair is under growing domestic pressure, particularly from within the
Labour Party, not to involve the UK in a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.
Members of Labour's ruling national executive are hoping to push through
a resolution at its meeting on 28 January, calling on the UK government
not to involve British troops in a war unless it has been directly
sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
Privately, British ministers are confident that the UN will pass a second
resolution condemning Iraq if its government is found to be concealing
weapons of mass destruction. British diplomatic activity has been aimed
at persuading the US government not to act alone.
Jack Straw will visit New York tomorrow for talks with other foreign
ministers about combating terrorism, and will return to the US on
Wednesday to meet the Secretary of State, Colin Powell. Tony Blair meets
George Bush at Camp David on 31 January.
Iraq has also been conducting a diplomatic campaign to win sympathy
across the Muslim world. The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, met
Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi yesterday as part of a week-long North
African tour. He left Libya shortly before the arrival of Egypt's
President Hosni Mubarak, who is also seeking a way to avoid war.
The US anti-war movement has attracted support from Vietnam veterans and
celebrities including the civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and the actor
Martin Sheen. British campaigners include the veteran politician Tony
Benn, writers Salman Rushdie and Iain Banks, and actresses Julie Christie
and Juliet Stevenson.
###
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