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"The leaders lie to us," protesters said, adding that the aim of war was to take control of Iraq's oil reserves
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LONDON,
November 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Thousands of protesters
held a rally in central London Thursday evening, October 31, to
condemn British support for possible U.S. war against
12-year-sanction-hit Iraq.
"Our
message is addressed to the MPs (members of parliament) and to the
government," said Kevin Joss, a 47-year-old consultant, according
to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
leaders lie to us, and we are here to represent the insulted
people," he said, adding that the aim of war was to take control
of Iraq's oil reserves, said AFP.
The
Stop the War Coalition and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the
principal organizers of the demonstration, which coincided with
Halloween, said they wanted to "frighten" British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush.
"Halloween
is a time when frightening things happen," said Ian Saville who
was wearing a pumpkin on his head. Unlike Blair and Bush, "we
want to keep Halloween for the imagination," he told AFP.
Not
far away, a protester brandished a placard reading "The Blair
Bush project," parodying the title of an American horror film.
Other
placards read "Don’t Strike Iraq" and "Not in My
Name".
Different
groups of protesters gathered outside parliament before marching
together to Downing Street under the careful eye of watching police
officers.
Throughout
the day people opposed to war in Iraq took part in demonstrations,
student gatherings, road blocks and bicycle parades all around
Britain.
A
Scotland Yard spokeswoman said there had been a total of eight arrests
for public order offences during the London protest.
Meanwhile,
France suggested Thursday that the U.N. Security Council could meet
foreign ministers, attending in place of ambassadors, as a way of
resolving the six-week diplomatic deadlock over Iraq, the British Independent
reported.
France
and Russia remain opposed to a U.S.-U.K. draft that includes a threat
of military action if Iraq fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons
inspectors. Paris wants a two-stage approach that would first give
inspections a chance and leave consideration of war until later if
Baghdad is obstructive.
President
George Bush, who first called on the U.N. to pass a resolution on Iraq
in a speech before the General Assembly September 12, also put
pressure on the Security Council Thursday night, threatening to use
military force. "Either the U.N. will do its duty to disarm
Saddam Hussein. Or Saddam Hussein will disarm himself. In either case,
if they refuse to act ... the U.S. will lead a coalition and disarm
Saddam Hussein," he said.
Washington
has been signaling with decreasing subtlety in recent days that it
will soon give up on the U.N. and plan for war, with support from
Britain. Such an outcome, however, would embarrass the U.N. and could
undermine its authority for many years.
Sources
at the U.N. said the notion of a meeting of the Security Council at
foreign ministers' level had not been ruled out. "It could be a
useful tool for moving us forward," one diplomat said. But it
seemed unlikely that a summit could be arranged before next week.
Hans
Blix, the chief weapons inspector, urged the Security Council to
settle its differences. After meeting with ambassadors, accompanied by
Mohammed El-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic
Agency, he said he had stressed the "importance of having
agreement and broad unity in the Council".
Moscow
and Paris circulated their own draft proposals at the end of last
week. Raising the possibility of a Security Council session with
foreign ministers, France's Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin
told Le Figaro newspaper: "Our objective is now twofold;
reaching a conclusion quickly, and doing so on the basis of as large a
consensus as possible."
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