THE US: Anti-poverty demonstrations in Washington at the weekend evolved into protests against war on Iraq, with the large number of students taking part raising the prospect of an anti-war movement developing on US campuses.
Young people in several rallies in the city said that the formation of anti-war organisations had already begun in some universities, with the initial purpose of gathering petitions against a US-led attack on Iraq.
Thousands of anti-war protesters gathered at Washington's Du Pont Circle yesterday afternoon to march on the residence of the Vice President, Mr Dick Cheney.
The colourful half-mile-long procession was led by a banner declaring, "Peoples of the world saying no to war". Marchers chanted "one, two, three, four we don't your oil war" and carried placards attacking the Bush administration.
Heavily armed riot police guarded embassies along the route and were concentrated heavily outside the British embassy.
On Saturday, demonstrators banging drums and carrying banners marched behind a Trojan Horse labelled "World Bank" on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund headquarters in protests against world poverty, AIDS and war.
The marches were timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the two world financial organisations. They were prevented from carrying out a plan to "quarantine" the buildings by a huge force of riot police who kept access streets open.
The number of demonstrators was smaller than expected, with many deterred by the mass arrests of more than 600 on Friday and the overwhelming police presence.
In scenes reminiscent of the days when Joan Baez stirred anti-Vietnam War sentiment with her ballads, protest singer Anne Feeney galvanised a rally against poverty in Farragut Square on Saturday with lyrics attacking the Bush administration.
She drew loud cheers from a 5,000-strong crowd when she sang: "We need fifty billion more/ That money could feed the poor/ But don't you know that we're at war." Several counter-demonstrators harangued the marchers, leading to heated arguments but no violence. There were a handful of arrests as the protesters, some masked, sat down at intersections chanting "Whose streets? Our streets!" Four people were charged with possession of coffee cans filled with nails.
Undergraduates in the US no longer face military draft but students are apprehensive "in a quiet way" about what might happen if war starts, according to Mr David Ward, president of the American Council of Education which represents 1,800 colleges.
A survey of US universities by the Washington Post yesterday concluded that the spectre of war was stirring dissent on campuses. While few students defended Iraq, most were sceptical about the motives of President Bush, doubtful about the necessity of war and worried about the lack of international support.