A rchive Date
[ 17-03-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Australia ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/03/16/44494-ap.html
People mobilize against war on Iraq
By JAMIE TARABAY
Sun, March 16, 2003
SYDNEY, Australia (CP) - Families picnicked under antiwar banners and held vigils at tourist centres in Australia and New Zealand on Sunday as protests against a U.S.-led war in Iraq that rocked major cities worldwide continued through the weekend.
In neighbouring Indonesia, peace activists held a small candlelight vigil, the latest in a series of antiwar demonstrations in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Muslim and Christian groups offered prayers together outside Hong Kong's biggest mosque.
Nearly 1,000 people turned out for a candlelight vigil in Toronto in front of the U.S. consulate on Sunday night, continuing to press for peace with song.
Hundreds of thousands of people poured out onto the streets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South America and the United States on Saturday in an outpouring of dissent no less persistent than the buildup of U.S. forces ready to strike Iraq.
In Australia, hundreds of thousands have come out in recent weeks in opposition to Prime Minister John Howard's unstinting support of U.S. President George W. Bush and his hardline stance on disarming Iraq.
On Sunday, surfers off Sydney's beaches paddled out to form a giant peace sign in the water, while a small but noisy group of protesters picketed Howard at different points of his schedule, as he left his home in Sydney and later at a political campaign function.
Throughout Australia's Victoria state, events had been organized with families in mind - picnics, vigils and educational sessions.
In the tourist spot of Ocean Grove, lawyers, garbage collectors and people from other walks of life sat in a large circle near the town's main shopping district to voice their "deeply held feelings of the insanity of Howard and Bush wanting war," said organizer Rev. Neil Tolliday.
In several New Zealand and Australian cities, protesters gathered for candlelight vigils. As dusk fell, hundreds stood on Sydney's world-famous Bondi Beach holding candles and making speeches for peace.
In the Indonesia capital, Jakarta, around 100 people - among them several expatriates and many women - protested at the city's main traffic circle.
Carrying banners reading No Blood for Oil and No Blood for Imperialism, the protesters lit candles and said prayers for peace before disbanding.
About 200 people held a candelight vigil outside Hong Kong's Kowloon Mosque.
In Bulgaria, about 300 people marched in downtown Sofia to protest a temporary air base for U.S. forces on their country's Black Sea coast and government support for the American and British stance on Iraq.
Bulgaria, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, has allowed the United States to station up to 18 refuelling aircraft and up to 400 army personnel at the civilian airport of Sarafovo, 400 kilometres east of Sofia.
In Greece, about 2,000 anti-war demonstrators protested outside a small United States navy base on the Mediterranean island of Crete which supports the U.S. navy and air force spy planes and could play an important role in an attack on Iraq.
Hundreds of protesters also gathered at a NATO base in the northern town of Tirnavo and at an air base in the northwestern town of Akteon.
Hundreds of thousands rallied worldwide a day earlier, in some cases pressing close to the symbols of American power: the White House, the U.S. air base in Frankfurt, Germany, and U.S. embassies in Greece and Cyprus.
Organizers estimated 200,000 protesters marched through Montreal, making it the largest of at least 45 others across Canada on Saturday. Also notable was a 10,000-strong turnout in Vancouver.
More than 10,000 Argentines marched peacefully Saturday to the U.S. Embassy at Buenos Aires, waving flags and signs advocating Peace and demanding No War.
Several hundred people attended a music and cultural festival against war in Iraq in Mexico City's main square, and protests by hundreds of activists also took place in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Similar sentiments were expressed in Spain, where hundreds of thousands marched in dozens of cities, including Moron de la Frontera, which houses a military base used by the U.S. air force in its war preparations. The Spanish government has supported Washington's moves toward war.
"To start a war is hopeless," former Danish prime minister Anker Joergensen told 6,000 at a rally in Copenhagen. "It's important to remove the dictatorship (in Iraq) but not through war."
No War! placards proliferated around the world, carried by students in Bucharest, Romania, and Japanese seniors with memories of the Second World War suffering. Many demonstrations were organized by leftist parties, unions and peace groups.
Organizers of an event in Washington - a rally near the Washington Monument followed by a march around the White House and back - asked people to leave whatever they are doing on the day that war starts, and walk outside in protest.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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