Thousands Protest Possible US Action
by Ed Johnson

March 30, 2002  Commondreams.org

(AP) Waving placards and chanting slogans, thousands of anti-war
demonstrators marched through central London Saturday, calling on Prime
Minister Tony Blair to steer the United States away from military action
against Iraq.

A young supporter of Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmement (CND)
holds up a placard saying "Against the War" in several languages in
central London Saturday March 30, 2002 during a march organized by CND
calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to steer the United States away
from military action against Iraq. (AP PHOTO/Stuart Griffiths)

The "Don't Start Wars" protest was arranged by the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament amid mounting speculation that President Bush was planning
to launch an offensive against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime.

"It is no good demonizing Saddam Hussein. He's not a nice man but
demonizing a country is a different matter," Labor lawmaker Tam Dalyell
told demonstrators, who gathered in Trafalgar Square carrying signs
reading "Don't Attack Iraq" and "War Is Not The Answer."

Dalyell, a veteran and very vocal backbench member of Blair's governing
Labor Party, insisted the dispute over U.N. weapons inspectors being
allowed back into Iraq must be resolved through diplomacy.

Scotland Yard estimated that 3,500 people took part in the rally.

Earlier Saturday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and
Wales warned that U.S.-led military action against Iraq could further
destabilize the Middle East.

"If a unilateral attack on Iraq would in fact cause instability, would
cause the loss of ultimate peace in the Middle East, then, in my view,
it would be a very dangerous step to take," Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor told the British Broadcasting Corp.

The cardinal urged Blair, who is scheduled to meet with Bush in Texas
next week, not to take any action which would lead to a split with the
rest of the European Union, where many countries are deeply concerned
about the prospect of an attack on Iraq.

Speculation that Saddam would be the next target of the U.S.-led
campaign against terrorism has grown since Bush said Iraq, along with
North Korea and Iran, formed an "axis of evil." Vice President Dick
Cheney recently toured Arab nations feeling out leaders about a U.S.
attack on Baghdad.

© 2002 The Associated Press
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