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Thousands March in Europe to Protest U.S. Attacks on Afghanistan
LONDON, Oct 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Europe on Saturday in peaceful demonstrations against the U.S.-led reprisal bombing campaign on Afghanistan.
"No war, we want peace," was the chant of some 20,000 people who marched through central London, some carrying placards declaring "Stop This Bloody War" - a cry echoed by demonstrators in France, Germany and Switzerland.
"We are sending a very clear message to [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair and [U.S. President George] Bush to say that we think they should stop the bombing now," said Kate Hudson, vice-chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Though noisy, the mood was largely peaceful although two failed attempts were made to set fire to British and U.S. flags during what were the largest protests in Britain since the air strikes began.
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, which also supported the rally, said he wanted community leaders to "channel the disquiet felt by the youth over the war into a peaceful protest campaign," according to a BBC online report.
And CND chairwoman Carol Naughton found the demonstration "incredible," the BBC report said.
"We expected a lot of people, but this just shows that there really is a big upsurge of people who are opposed to the conflict in Britain," she said in the report.
Since Sunday, the United States has pounded targets of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia and sites of Osama bin Laden's suspected terror network, blamed for the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington.
Although Western media cannot independently confirm the death toll, Taliban and Muslim media sources report that more than 400 civilians have been killed so far, while the Taliban claim that the prime targets, bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, are still alive.
At a rally in Scotland, George Galloway, an MP with the ruling Labor party, condemned the military action as a "terrorist act" and "another crime of massacre".
In Germany, police estimated around 25,000 people joined rallies in several cities including the capital Berlin, but organizers insisted the total was nearer 60,000.
More than 2,000 police officers were deployed in Berlin to maintain order as demonstrators made their way through the city under the theme "No war! Stand for peace!" but the event went off without incident.
In the southeast city of Stuttgart, several thousand protestors denounced what they branded the "military terror of the United States".
France's Green party, part of the governing coalition, condemned the U.S. strikes as hundreds vented their opposition in several cities, although an opinion poll published on Saturday found that two thirds of the French population backed the military action.
Green party secretary general Dominique Voynet said the bombings were "not necessarily the best response to the terrorist attacks" that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and part of the Pentagon in Washington.
"Bombings that kill without discriminating between civilians and military can only strengthen [the Taliban]," said the former environment minister.
The French opinion poll, published in Le Journal du Dimanche, found that 66% of those questioned backed the U.S. action to varying degrees while 28% voiced their disapproval.
In the southern resort of Nice, a crowd of some 350 people, some of them carrying banners reading "No to terrorism, no to war", sang the Communist anthem "The Internationale" in front of the U.S. consulate building.
The Swiss capital Bern was also the scene of a demonstration called by pacifist groups and joined by between 5,000 and 7,000 people demanding a halt to the bombardments.
"The rationale for weapons will never replace the weapon of reason," they chanted.
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