Thousands protest possible US action Associated Press
March 30, 2002
by Ed JohnsonWaving placards and chanting slogans, thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through central London Saturday, calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to steer the United States away from military action against Iraq.
The "Don't Start Wars" protest was arranged by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament amid mounting speculation that President Bush was planning to launch an offensive against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime.
"It is no good demonizing Saddam Hussein. He's not a nice man but demonizing a country is a different matter," Labor lawmaker Tam Dalyell told demonstrators, who gathered in Trafalgar Square carrying signs reading "Don't Attack Iraq" and "War Is Not The Answer."
Dalyell, a veteran and very vocal backbench member of Blair's governing Labor Party, insisted the dispute over U.N. weapons inspectors being allowed back into Iraq must be resolved through diplomacy.
Scotland Yard estimated that 3,500 people took part in the rally.
Earlier Saturday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales warned that U.S.-led military action against Iraq could further destabilize the Middle East.
"If a unilateral attack on Iraq would in fact cause instability, would cause the loss of ultimate peace in the Middle East, then, in my view, it would be a very dangerous step to take," Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor told the British Broadcasting Corp.
The cardinal urged Blair, who is scheduled to meet with Bush in Texas next week, not to take any action which would lead to a split with the rest of the European Union, where many countries are deeply concerned about the prospect of an attack on Iraq.
Speculation that Saddam would be the next target of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism has grown since Bush said Iraq, along with North Korea and Iran, formed an "axis of evil." Vice President Dick Cheney recently toured Arab nations feeling out leaders about a U.S. attack on Baghdad.
(c) 2002 The Associated Press