[BBC] Anti-war protesters take to the streets
Saturday, 18 January, 2003, 11:06 GMT
Anti-war protesters take to the streets
Mass rallies are taking place around the world to show opposition to any war against Iraq.
" I hope that President Bush, who is acting like a cowboy, will recognise that an era of western films is over "
Tomoharu Yamauchi,
Tokyo protester
The first demonstrations took place in Japan and Pakistan. Others are set to follow in cities across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
One of the biggest protests is planned for Washington - the home of the Bush administration, which has been threatening war against Baghdad if it does not disarm.
The United States has described Thursday's discovery of empty chemical warheads in Iraq as "troubling and serious".
But officials appeared to be withholding any new demands for war until after weapons inspectors make their formal report to the United Nations on 27 January.
Other members of the UN Security Council have warned against jumping to conclusions. The Council passed a resolution in November ordering Iraq to prove it had no weapons of mass destruction.
The chief inspectors - Hans Blix and Mohammad ElBaradei - are due in Baghdad on Sunday for two days of talks before completing their submission to the UN.
Anti-US anger
Several thousand people gathered for a peace concert in Japan's capital, Tokyo, at the start of a day of rallies around Japan and the world.
Tomoharu Yamauchi, 45, a city coffee shop owner, told the AFP news agency he was marching to express his anger over US President George W Bush's aggressive stance.
"I hope that President Bush, who is acting like a cowboy, will recognise that the era of western films is over," he said.
"We have to stop (the US) from killing people."
In Pakistan, hundreds of people including many uniformed schoolchildren gathered in the capital, Islamabad, to protest for peace.
They planned to form a human chain to the town of Rawalpindi, 10 kilometres (six miles) away.
Demonstrators told the BBC they represented Pakistan's silent majority. They were protesting as much against local radicals and their hate-filled rallies as against any US belligerence.
'Pre-emptive peace'
Other anti-war demonstrations are planned in Egypt, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
In the US, organisers hope to build up a level of public opposition similar to that against the Vietnam War 30 years ago.
They say the American peace movement is being energised by the departure of more US troops to the Gulf and the scheduled inspectors' report to the UN, which could serve as a trigger for war.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a Washington lawyer and protest organiser, said: "Bush has said he intends to launch a pre-emptive war, and now he's facing the most formidable obstacle, which is a pre-emptive anti-war movement."
The Washington demonstration is set to start at Capitol Hill. Activists say they will march to a nearby navy base to demand the right to inspect US weapons of mass destruction.
Hollywood stars are expected both in Washington and in San Francisco, where a crowd of up to 50,000 people is being predicted for the City Hall rally.
Inspections protest
In Iraq itself, weapons inspectors faced their own demonstration - by the Iraqi journalists' union which is headed by Saddam Hussein's son, Uday.
Journalists shouted "Down, down Bush" on the second day of protest against the teams sent to verify Iraq's declaration that it has no banned weapons.
Rallies were staged on Friday to coincide with the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf War, when a US-led coalition ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.
On Thursday, inspectors seized empty chemical warheads at the Ukhaider military storage facility south of Baghdad. They are being tested to determine if they ever contained banned chemicals.
Iraq said the weapons had been declared to the UN, but that was challenged by the US.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "The fact that Iraq is in possession of undeclared chemical warheads, which the United Nations says are in excellent condition, is troubling and serious."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell told a German newspaper he believed that, by the end of this month, it would be clear that Iraq was not co-operating with the weapons inspectors.
Other permanent members of the UN Security Council, notably France and Russia, have said inspectors should be given time to complete their work in Iraq.