Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets in the United States and Europe on Saturday, to commemorate the second anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq and to demand the pullout of foreign troops from the country.
Thousands of protesters marched in San Francisco and other US cities Saturday to vent their anger at the US-led war on Iraq and demand the withdrawal of the US troops.
In San Francisco, protesters rallied in Dolores Park in the city's Mission district and planned to march about 3 km to Civic Center to hear speeches from anti-war activists.
In New York City, hundreds of protesters, some carrying cardboard coffins draped in American flags, gathered at military recruiting stations to demand that US troops be pulled out of Iraq.
About 350 protesters marched silently along the 42nd Street in Manhattan, flashing peace signs and carrying cardboard coffins. In downtown Chicago, hundreds of protesters held an anti-war rally, and in Hollywood, some 2,000 people took to the street to make the special day.
Across Europe, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the major cities on the continent Saturday, banging drums, waving banners and posters denouncing the US-led war on Iraq two years ago.
In London, about 100,000 people marched through the city center on Saturday to protest against the invasion.
The demonstration started at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park and ended at Trafalgar Square.
The demonstrators heard speeches by anti-war campaigners such as the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and former Guantanamo Bayinmate Martin Mubanga and placed a coffin, with the words "100,000 dead" written on it, in front of the US embassy.
Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop the War Coalition that organized the demonstration, told the gathering that "we have tried to deliver a letter to the American Embassy. We have not been able to do that."
"It is in the name of the thousands of people demonstrating here today and we are going to tape a copy of the letter to this coffin", he said.
At the same time, there was also a protest in Glasgow, Scotland. The names of some of British, US and Iraqi victims of the war were reportedly read out along with a "name and shame" list of parliamentarians who backed the war.
In the Italian capital of Rome, some 10,000 people marched through the city center, waving anti-war banners and demanding the immediate return of the 3,000 Italian troops from Iraq.
Around 1,000 demonstrators also marched from downtown Stockholmto the US embassy, after hearing speeches by anti-war legislators.
"It is another Vietnam war," said a middle-aged protester, who accused the US of having invaded Iraq for oil.
Police in Athens said 2,000 demonstrators had marched in the city center, where they attended a rock concert and heard an address by Sue Niederer, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq.
In Warsaw, Poland, about 500 protesters marched past the US embassy and the offices of President Aleksander Kwasniewski. Pollsshow that three out of four Poles oppose the deployment of Polish troops in Iraq.
In Copenhagen, more than 2,500 people rallied in front of the US embassy, demanding the US withdraw its troops from Iraq. The protesters also demanded the return of about 500 Danish troops from the country.
Protesters also marched in Madrid and Barcelona of Spain. In Turkey, there were also protests in Ankara, Istanbul and Adana, attracting crowds of several hundreds.
(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2005)
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