.Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Ozeti
Millions join rallies against a war
In citiesworldwide, marchers. demand peaceful solution
By Barry James
sure .the number of people at demon-
. stratIons."
International Herald Tribune But a demonstrator in Hobart
PARIS: Millions of: people in hun~ . replied, "I just don't think the govemtireds
of, citic.i from Hollywood to ment is listening to its people."
Baghdad demonstrated over the week- In New York, where protesters inend
in an attempt to turn back the tide cludedreIativesofvictimsoftheterror-
, toward a war in Iraq. ist attack on the World Trade Center; .
The demonstrations, in about 600 somepeople carried posters that read
cities around the world, were capped "Thank you France and Germany," re-
Sunday by a massive protest in Sydney. ferring to the two countries that have .
But there was .no sign that th~ . spearheaded diplomatic efforts to
protests were deflecting the Bush ad- avoid a conflict and allow more time
ministration from its course. for UN weapons inspectors to ensure'
Asked on the Fox News Channel if
the administration was rattled, the U.S.
that iraq conceals no weapons of mass
destruction.
national security adviser, Condoleezza "In cities across Europe, people were
Rice, replied, "no, nothing could be fur- clearlyshowing that they did not want
ther from the truth." . war," said Prime Minister Guy Verhof-
"People have the right to protest," . stadt of Belgium. who has supported
she said. "People can say what they the French and German position. He
think. But the fact is, they're not saying said he h~ped this would help the Eurowhat
they're thinking in Baghdad, be- pean Union "to find a common posicause
that's a regime that cuts people's tion on Monday," when the Union's
tongues off" when they speak out.
Both Prime Ministers Tony Blair of
leaders hold a summit meeting in Brussels.
Britain and John Howard ofAustralia In Cairo, the Greek foreign minister,
-::-two leaders who have deployed com- George Papandreou, said "the amazing
bat forces to the Gulf in support of the demonstrations" along with the discus-
U.S. military buildup there - also said sions Friday at the UN Security Counthey
would not be deflected from their cil showed "a desire by the whole world .
purpose by the outpouring of protest, to .work together to find a peaceful
the 1ar'lest ofits kind since the V;c' .' ~m solution."
War. i . . But he warned Saddam Hussein not
, llilward said that he was not con- to take the debate and the demonstra-
: vinced that. an estimated 400,000 tions as a sign of weakness. "If he
marchers in Australia spoke for the thinks that this division is something
country and that he had not been influ- which means that he doesn't have to
'encectPf them. "What I am doing here comply, then I fear that would be a sigis
what'l.çonsider right for Australia," nal tha~ would carry us to a conflict,"
he said. '~This is not something where he said.
you read each opinion poll or you mea- ' Organizers, said 1.5
marched in London in what was said to
be the biggest demonstration of its kind,
although the police confirmed a figure
only half as high. Blair begged the peace
demonstrators to consider that they
were outnumbered by the victims of
Saddam's wars and repressions.
Some of the biggest demonstrations'
in Europe were held in those countries
that like Britain have sided with the
United States against France and Germany.ln
Spain. the authorities reported
a total of more than a million people
marelred in Madrid and Barcelona, with
hundreds of thousands more protesting
in other cities. The police said 600,000 .
. people marched in Rome,. but organizers
put the total at 3 million.
,The demonstrations received prominent
coverage in Iraq's tightly controlled
news media, which suggested
that President George W. Bush rather
than, Baghdad was under pressure now.
,"These demonstrations expressed in
.their spirit, meaning and slogans the
decisive Iraqi victory and the defeat
and isolation of America," said the government
daily AI-Jumhuriya. A headline
in the newspaper read, "The world
rises against American aggression and
the arrogance of naked force."
The Iraqi deputy prime minister,
Tariq Aziz, returning home aftér a.visit
to Pope John Paul Il, said, "My message
to the United States is that it should
hear the voice of the international public
opinion." In Iraq itself, tens of thousands
of people, many carrying assault
rifles and portraits of Saddam. took to
the streets of several cities to pledge
their loyalty to the leader.
Demonstrations also took place in
Dan Peled/The Associated Press
Anti-war protests in cities around the world continued Sunday as thousands took to the streets in Sydney.Australia is the only
country other than Britain thus (ar to have deployed any onts troops in support of the U.S.military buildup in the Gulf.
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