Hundreds of thousands of Britons protest against Iraq war
LONDON, March 20 -- Hundreds of thousands of British protesters are taking to the streets of London to mark the first anniversary of the start of US-led war in Iraq.
Two anti-war protesters kicked off a day of protest by scaling London's landmark Big Ben clock tower at 0615 GMT on Saturday, unfurling a banner saying "Time for Truth." They only started descending after more than six hours due to bad weather.
"We have achieved what we wanted. It's wet and windy but it's worth it," one of the climbers, Harry Westaway, said in a statement.
"It's about time (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair told us the truth," he was quoted by a BBC report as saying.
Around 1200 GMT, tens of thousands of people were leaving Hyde Park and heading to Trafalgar Square in central London for an anti-war rally backed by the Stop the War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Muslim Association of Britain.
Local media reported that large numbers of people took coaches from dozens of towns and cities across the country to London to join the demonstration.
Lindsey German, of the Stop the War Coalition, said: "We are continuing to march because we want to make clear the strength of anti-war feeling in this country."
"Everything we said about the war has turned out to be true andeverything the government said has turned out to be a lie," said German.
Anti-war campaigners inflated a model of a Trident missile, accompanied by activists dressed up as weapons inspectors.
Thousands of balloons will be released in memory of those killed in the Iraq conflict, as well as the Madrid bomb attack victims.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, MP George Galloway are expected to speak at the rally later Saturday. Enditem
LONDON, March 20 -- Hundreds of thousands of British protesters are taking to the streets of London to mark the first anniversary of the start of US-led war in Iraq.
Two anti-war protesters kicked off a day of protest by scaling London's landmark Big Ben clock tower at 0615 GMT on Saturday, unfurling a banner saying "Time for Truth." They only started descending after more than six hours due to bad weather.
"We have achieved what we wanted. It's wet and windy but it's worth it," one of the climbers, Harry Westaway, said in a statement.
"It's about time (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair told us the truth," he was quoted by a BBC report as saying.
Around 1200 GMT, tens of thousands of people were leaving Hyde Park and heading to Trafalgar Square in central London for an anti-war rally backed by the Stop the War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Muslim Association of Britain.
Local media reported that large numbers of people took coaches from dozens of towns and cities across the country to London to join the demonstration.
Lindsey German, of the Stop the War Coalition, said: "We are continuing to march because we want to make clear the strength of anti-war feeling in this country."
"Everything we said about the war has turned out to be true andeverything the government said has turned out to be a lie," said German.
Anti-war campaigners inflated a model of a Trident missile, accompanied by activists dressed up as weapons inspectors.
Thousands of balloons will be released in memory of those killed in the Iraq conflict, as well as the Madrid bomb attack victims.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone, MP George Galloway are expected to speak at the rally later Saturday. Enditem
