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People in various cities around the globe took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the United States-led war against Iraq, showing that the anti-war and anti-US protest wave is gaining momentum across the world.
In northwestern Pakistan, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Peshawar, a provincial capital, on Sunday in a protest organized by Islamic leaders.
The march is the fourth in a series of large-scale protests in Pakistan's main cities organized by the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance, or United Action Forum.
Initial estimates said 70,000 people turned out for the start of the demonstration, which organizers have dubbed a "Million Man March." Three previous protests have each drawn well over 100,000 people.
The protesters carried signs of "No war for oil" and "Death to America and Britain. Effigies of US President George W. Bush were burned by some angry demonstrators.
Freight containers were parked across the main street to form a platform where rally leaders delivered fiery speeches against the United States.
Smaller demonstrations of several thousand people also were held in the cities of Multan in central Pakistan and Quetta in the southwest.
In South Korea, tens of thousands of workers rallied Sunday in Seoul, the capital, to protest the war in Iraq and the South Korean government's plan to dispatch non-combat troops.
"No War! We oppose troop dispatch!" read yellow signs held by the demonstrators.
Police said about 30,000 people joined the protest. But protest organizers from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the nation's largest labor union, claimed there were more than 50,000.
The demonstrators demanded that the National Assembly reject a government bill on dispatching 600 military engineers and 100 medics to support the US-led war.
Amid rising anti-war sentiment, South Korea's National Assembly delayed voting on the bill twice last week.
In India, more than 150,000 people marched on Sunday in the country's largest anti-war protest in the eastern city of Calcutta, and set alight dozens of effigies of US President Bush.
The Indian anti-war movement has united students, leftists, Muslim groups, and trade unions. New Delhi has repeatedly expressed its opposition to unilateral action on Iraq, saying the war could have been averted.
The demonstrators peacefully marched through the city center, causing major traffic jams, and wound its way through the city for nine kilometers. Groups of women in cotton saris sang "Stop the war, stop the bloodletting, let peace prevail," while others waved banners that read: "America, the biggest terrorist in the world" and "USA: killer of innocent Iraqis."
Dozens of youths broke a clay pot used as the head of an effigy of US President Bush and then burnt the straw-and-wood mock-up, shouting "Down with America."
The march was also joined by dozens of visitors from Western countries.
In Cyprus, some 5,000 Greek Cypriots marched Sunday on the British Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri to protest the war in Iraq. It is the largest such demonstration held on the island since the US-led war started 11 days ago.
"The bombs falling on Baghdad demolish international legality, United Nations principles and the international organization itself," Cypriot parliament speaker Dimitiris Christofias told the noisy, but peaceful demonstrators.
"Our gathering here gives the clear message that the British bases which have become involved in the war are unwanted and must close," Christofias told the protesters, some of whom held placards reading "Bush, murderer of children," "No blood for oil "and "Close the bases of death."
Akrotiri, the largest air base outside Britain, has been used extensively since the war started as a refueling and resupply base for US and British aircraft and warships operating in the eastern Mediterranean.
Cyprus, has been listed by the United States as a member of the "coalition" supporting the military strike against Iraq.
In Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, hundreds of thousands of people took to the street on Sunday to stage a demonstration against the war.
The protesters, carrying flags and "No War" banners, protested along the two major streets of JL Thammrin and Sudirman in central Jakarta, and then proceeded to the British embassy, the United Nations' representative office and the US embassy, expressing their strong opposition against the US-led aggression in Iraq.
People from all walks of life, including students, professionals, religious groups, political parties and Non-Governmental Organizations, took part in the peaceful protest.
The rally's coordinator told the media on Saturday that at least 200,000 people have confirmed their participation in the protest, the largest in Jakarta since the United States and its allies launched the intrusion into Iraq.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and its government has been a vocal opponent of the war. Protests have been widespread across the country since the war began.
Meanwhile, in Jordan, a neighboring country of Iraq, a group of journalists staged a demonstration Sunday at the capital city of Amman, demanding an immediate end to the war against Iraq.
About 200 reporters and editors from most of the media organizations in Jordan went to Queen Rania street at about noon time to express their anger and rage against the war against Iraq.
The protest, initiated by the local Journalist Association, is the first anti-war demonstration by Jordanian journalists since the Iraq war broke out on March 20.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2003)
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