War on Iraq

March 22, 2003

Thousands Worldwide Protest War

Police clashed with 30,000 anti-war demonstrators Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, setting off an exchange of gunfire that killed three people and injured dozens. Similar outrage over the U.S.-led assault on Iraq spilled into streets in cities around the world.

The protest in San'a, Yemen, was its most violent since economic riots six years ago. Hundreds of police ringing the embassy compound tried to control the crowd with tear gas and water cannons before firing automatic rifles into the air.

Protesters kept up their push, picking up stones and tear gas canisters and hurling them at police lines. Crowds shouted, "No American and no British Embassy on Yemeni land" and "Death to America. Death to Israel."

A policeman was shot by demonstrators, a Yemeni security official said on condition of anonymity.

A protester also was shot, he said, without elaborating. Witnesses said the protester, in his early teens, was hit by police gunfire. The official Yemeni news agency Saba reported that another demonstrator also was killed but gave no details.

Riot police fired rubber-coated bullets at a smaller crowd in Bahrain, while water cannons and tear gas were used in Egypt and Jordan. In Cairo, 10,000 people chanted anti-U.S. slogans as they gathered under tight security after Friday's weekly prayers. Thirty-five protesters and eight police officers were injured in Egypt and at least 10 were injured in Bahrain.

"Islam is being raped. I feel terrible," said Um-Mohammed, an Egyptian woman demonstrating outside the venerable Al-Azhar mosque.

About 500 Palestinians marched through the Al-Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus, Syria, with posters of Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat. They condemned Arab leaders who have aided the U.S. war effort and chanted, "Oh, Saddam. Destroy Kuwait."

Iranian leaders slammed the war as satanic and a "threat to humanity" in statements marking the first day of the Persian new year Friday.

Anger over the war was not confined to the Muslim world.

More than 150,000 people protested in Athens, and police fired tear gas at small groups of protesters hurling rocks and gasoline bombs at officers guarding the U.S. Embassy.

A four-hour nationwide strike called in opposition to the war brought Greece to a standstill and helped swell the ranks of demonstrators. Schools and universities closed to allow students to protest. The strike shut down airports, causing domestic and international flights to be delayed or canceled.

Hundreds of Greek Cypriot students threw eggs and stones at the U.S.

Embassy building in Nicosia, chanting, "Drop Bush, not bombs."

Demonstrators also took to the streets in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, India, Thailand, China and other countries across Asia.

In Tokyo, at least 11,000 people took advantage of warm spring weather and a national holiday to march for peace. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi supports U.S. efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and has promised to provide aid for refugees and help rebuild Iraq after fighting ends.

In central London on Friday, protesters on bicycles blocked Parliament Square, and Greenpeace used a hot air balloon to drop peace leaflets over a British air force base shortly before U.S. B-52 bombers took off.

In Melbourne, Australia, about 5,000 protesters marched to the sound of mock air-raid sirens. The demonstration came as officials confirmed for the first time that units of the nation's military were engaged in Iraq.

In Germany, police broke up a sit-down protest outside the U.S. military's European Command in Stuttgart. In Berlin, schoolchildren placed candles on a street leading to the U.S. Embassy, which was protected by heavy concrete barriers and fences.

Anti-war activists set up a 10-foot steel peace symbol and an 800-pound bell near the embassy. They said they would ring the bell every half-hour until the war ended.

Moses Lehploe, a university student in Monrovia, the capital of war-riven Liberia, said the United States had no choice but war.

"A stubborn sore needs a drastic cure," he said.

But Lilian Achor, a 25-year-old banker in Lagos, Nigeria, disagreed.

"America, which has the most deadly weapons the world has ever seen, is accusing another country of having weapons of mass destruction and wants to disarm it," she said. "It's sheer hypocrisy."

- Robert Barr, Associated Press
source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

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Thousands Worldwide Protest War

Police clashed with 30,000 anti-war demonstrators Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, setting off an exchange of gunfire that killed three people and injured dozens. Similar outrage over the U.S.-led assault on Iraq spilled into streets in cities around the world.

The protest in San'a, Yemen, was its most violent since economic riots six years ago. Hundreds of police ringing the embassy compound tried to control the crowd with tear gas and water cannons before firing automatic rifles into the air.

Protesters kept up their push, picking up stones and tear gas canisters and hurling them at police lines. Crowds shouted, "No American and no British Embassy on Yemeni land" and "Death to America. Death to Israel."

A policeman was shot by demonstrators, a Yemeni security official said on condition of anonymity.

A protester also was shot, he said, without elaborating. Witnesses said the protester, in his early teens, was hit by police gunfire. The official Yemeni news agency Saba reported that another demonstrator also was killed but gave no details.

"Islam is being raped. I feel terrible," said Um-Mohammed, an Egyptian woman demonstrating outside the venerable Al-Azhar mosque.

About 500 Palestinians marched through the Al-Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus, Syria, with posters of Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat. They condemned Arab leaders who have aided the U.S. war effort and chanted, "Oh, Saddam. Destroy Kuwait."

Iranian leaders slammed the war as satanic and a "threat to humanity" in statements marking the first day of the Persian new year Friday.

Anger over the war was not confined to the Muslim world.

More than 150,000 people protested in Athens, and police fired tear gas at small groups of protesters hurling rocks and gasoline bombs at officers guarding the U.S. Embassy.

A four-hour nationwide strike called in opposition to the war brought Greece to a standstill and helped swell the ranks of demonstrators. Schools and universities closed to allow students to protest. The strike shut down airports, causing domestic and international flights to be delayed or canceled.

Hundreds of Greek Cypriot students threw eggs and stones at the U.S.

Embassy building in Nicosia, chanting, "Drop Bush, not bombs."

Demonstrators also took to the streets in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, India, Thailand, China and other countries across Asia.

In Tokyo, at least 11,000 people took advantage of warm spring weather and a national holiday to march for peace. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi supports U.S. efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and has promised to provide aid for refugees and help rebuild Iraq after fighting ends.

In central London on Friday, protesters on bicycles blocked Parliament Square, and Greenpeace used a hot air balloon to drop peace leaflets over a British air force base shortly before U.S. B-52 bombers took off.

In Melbourne, Australia, about 5,000 protesters marched to the sound of mock air-raid sirens. The demonstration came as officials confirmed for the first time that units of the nation's military were engaged in Iraq.

In Germany, police broke up a sit-down protest outside the U.S. military's European Command in Stuttgart. In Berlin, schoolchildren placed candles on a street leading to the U.S. Embassy, which was protected by heavy concrete barriers and fences.

Anti-war activists set up a 10-foot steel peace symbol and an 800-pound bell near the embassy. They said they would ring the bell every half-hour until the war ended.

Moses Lehploe, a university student in Monrovia, the capital of war-riven Liberia, said the United States had no choice but war.

"A stubborn sore needs a drastic cure," he said.

But Lilian Achor, a 25-year-old banker in Lagos, Nigeria, disagreed.

"America, which has the most deadly weapons the world has ever seen, is accusing another country of having weapons of mass destruction and wants to disarm it," she said. "It's sheer hypocrisy."