| Saturday, 15
February, 2003, 18:04 GMT
'Million' march against Iraq war
The march has passed off peacefully so
far Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the
streets of London to voice their opposition to military action against
Iraq.
Police said it was the capital's biggest ever demonstration with at least 750,000 taking part, while organisers put the figure closer to two million. There were also anti-war gatherings in Glasgow and Belfast - all part of a worldwide weekend of protest with hundreds of rallies and marches in up to 60 countries.
He said he "respected" and understood the desire to march. But he added: "I ask the marchers to understand this: I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour. "But sometimes it is the price of leadership and the cost of conviction." Shortly after he spoke a tide of banner-waving protesters began surging through central London.
They cheered, shouted, sounded horns and banged drums, waving signs with slogans 'No War On Iraq' and 'Make Tea, Not War'. Contingents arrived in the capital from about 250 cities across the UK. The three-and-a-half mile march - organised by Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain - was started early by police, over concern at the number of people gathering. Two separate meeting points were used before the streams converged in Piccadilly Circus and made their way to Hyde Park for a rally. Christian message Organiser John Rees said the turnout had been fantastic with an "electric atmosphere but also very serious and determined". Leading the demonstrators into the park was Italian student Giancarlo Suella, 29, who held a banner reading: 'Bush And Blair, A Good Christian Will Never Kill'.
He said: "I came to England to make my point to Mr Blair, it's hard to believe what he is doing." Police said so far the event had passed off peacefully, although there were a handful of arrests for minor offences. Andy Todd, assistant deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the crowd had been tolerant and patient and "the biggest I have experienced." He admitted the initial estimate could be underestimation, due to people bypassing official routes. While hundreds of thousands took to the streets, one man mounted a lone protest outside the Iraqi section of the Jordanian embassy in central London, holding a placard proclaiming his support of military action to bring down Saddam Hussein. Jacques More, 44, a writer from Croydon, south London, said: "War is a last resort and it's a necessary resort when evil dictators rule and murder their own people." At the rally, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy told the crowd he was not persuaded by the case for war. With "misleading" evidence provided by the government, "it's no wonder that people are scared and confused". High profile speakers Former US presidential candidate the Rev Jesse Jackson also spoke and led the crowd chanting "give peace a chance, keep hope alive". Among other high-profile supporters were ex-minister Mo Mowlam, London's mayor Ken Livingstone, actress Vanessa Redgrave, human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and former MP Tony Benn. Writer Tariq Ali and playwright Harold Pinter both used their speeches to attack Tony Blair, although some of the crowd voiced their opposition to such sentiments. Hollywood actor Tim Robbins, also attending, told BBC News the crowds were "what democracy looks like". If Mr Bush and Mr Blair ignored them "they are not rightful leaders of a democracy", he said. All police leave in the capital has been cancelled and 3,500 officers drafted in from the Met, the City of London force and British Transport Police to control the event. Roads around the route will be closed to traffic until the rally finishes at around 1700 GMT.
'The people can always be brought to the
bidding of the leaders . . . -HERMANN GOERING, Nazi Gestapo
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I thought I needed to show that we were against the war so
the prime minister can't say that he has the backing of his
people
