Thousands take part in demonstrations against Iraq war

dpa German Press Agency Published: Saturday February 24, 2007

London- Thousands of anti-war protestors rallied in London
and Glasgow Saturday calling for the immediate withdrawal of British
troops from Iraq.
The protestors were also demanding an end to plans to update
Britain's nuclear missile system and demonstrating against any
military action in Iran, according to Lindsey German of the Stop the
War Coalition, which organized the march along with the British
Muslim Initiative.

Marchers converged on Trafalgar Square in London and George Square
in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland.

According to the organizers, it was the biggest anti-war
demonstration in Britain in the last two years.

German said that people were beginning to realize that the British
government was "addicted" to war.

"Whether 2,000 troops come home this year or not, it is too little
too late and we must intensify our call for all troops to be
withdrawn now and for Britain to break the link with George Bush's
foreign policy," said German.

Soldiers were being withdrawn from Iraq so that they could be sent
to Afghanistan, she said.

As part of the protest, a group of mothers who lost sons in Iraq
Friday set up a "peace camp" outside the Downing Street offices of
British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

They were joined by relatives of soldiers killed or still serving
in Iraq who handed in a letter calling for a meeting with Blair -
something that he has repeatedly refused.

The protest, which is due to last until Sunday, was led by Rose
Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed by a bomb in Basra,
southern Iraq, in June 2004.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency