From Tokyo to Beirut, Paris to Washington, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday in what many saw as a last-ditch global protest against any US-led war on Iraq.
Protests ranged from the release of pigeons into the skies over Bangkok as symbols of peace to the burning of effigies of US President George W Bush in Calcutta and the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators united behind a "Give Peace A Chance" message to Bush and his two main allies, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, on the eve of yesterday's summit.
The numbers appeared lower than in a similar global protest on February 15th, when estimates put the figure at upward of 4 million and perhaps as high as 10 million.
As Bush got ready at his rural Maryland retreat to fly to the Azores to meet Blair and Aznar, tens of thousands from more than 100 US cities surrounded the White House to voice their opposition to war. Thousands more marched in other cities across North America, including Montreal, Toronto, Los Angeles, Boston and Tampa, Florida, home of the US Central Command.
There were counter-demonstrations in a few US cities. About 2,000 people in Atlanta praised the armed forces and Bush at a "Rally for America." In San Francisco, thousands of protesters chanted, played guitars, beat drums and carried signs reading "How many lives per gallon?" in an anti-war march that stretched for about a dozen city blocks.
For many it was a time to vent their anger at what they saw as an unstoppable march to war by Bush.
In Paris, protesters wore T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of Bush and the slogan: 'Wanted: Terrorist Number One.' Some 2,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip set fire to effigies of Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as well as US, British and Israeli flags.
Turkish riot police blocked roads leading to the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun to try to stop demonstrators reaching stores of US military equipment.
Aznar was reminded of the unpopularity of his support for Bush over Iraq when hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the center of Madrid. Prominent actors, writers, opposition politicians and union leaders led marchers of all ages waving placards saying: 'Aznar, Murderer.'
In Barcelona, police estimated some 300,000 formed a human chain stretching across the city from the US consulate to regional offices of Aznar's ruling Popular Party. Polls show more than three-quarters of Spaniards oppose an attack on Iraq.
French officials estimated some 150,000 people marched in dozens of cities."Eat some more pretzels, Bush," said one placard, referring to an incident a year ago in which Bush choked and fainted while eating the snack food.
Kicking off Saturday's protests, around 10,000 marched in Tokyo. Protests were also reported in Vietnam, Thailand, India, Australia and New Zealand.
In Europe, police said 20,000 Greeks marched to the US Embassy in Athens and around 30,000 people walked through Brussels, including Deputy Prime Minister Johan Vande Lanotte.
In Milan, thousands joined a protest organized by Italy's biggest trade union confederation CGIL. In a message to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has supported Bush, CGIL head Guglielmo Epifani said: "When the first bombs fall, this country will grind to a halt and the workers united will say no to war."
In Germany, hundreds of anti-war activists staged a sit-in protest at a US air base near Frankfurt that the United States uses to transport troops and supplies to the Gulf region. Police carried some of the protesters away.
"Especially now, shortly before the possible start of a war, it is extremely important to make our resistance visible at this central hub for the deployment of troops to the Gulf," organiser Christoph Bautz said.
In Denmark, police said some 5,000 people gathered outside the US embassy in the capital, Copenhagen, far fewer than the 25,000 who showed up on February 15th.
Between 3,000 and 4,000 people turned out in Stockholm in Sweden.
In London, British Muslims marched on the embassies of Muslim countries to demand that their governments stand up against any push toward war. "The governments of the Muslim world have the power to stop this war by disallowing America and its allies from using their land, air space, waterways and logistics to perpetrate it," said march organizer Imran Waheed.
In Iraq itself, there were state-organized marches with thousands of Iraqis vowing to defend Saddam. And more than 5,000 Argentine protesters marched to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.
- (Reuters)