"Blair: Out of Iraq and Downing Street", "Iraq For The Iraqis " and "Free Palestine", read the slogans waived by the protestors (AFP)

By Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Staff

CAIRO, April 17 (IslamOnline.net) – Over 1,000 protestors converged outside Downing Street on Saturday, April 17, demanding British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq and withhold support for American recognition of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

"Blair: Out of Iraq and Downing Street", "Iraq Back To The Iraqis" and "Free Palestine", read the banners waived by the angry demonstrators.

With sirens of security vehicles blaring out around, the crowd renewed calls for Blair to quit or end his staunch support for U.S. President George W. Bush's plans for Iraq and Palestine.

"Blair Must Go," shouted the protestors, including prominent figures as lawmaker Jeremy Corbin.

"He has become a liability for British people. He is serving the Bush agenda," said Ihtisham Hibatullah, a Muslim activist, in the protest.

Blair's office said he is due back to London early on Saturday after talks in Washington with Bush during which Iraq and Palestine figured high.

Blair said in a joint press conference that he, like Bush, supports Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's plan – which includes a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip while entrenching occupation of areas of the West Bank.

"This is a legitimization of Israel's long standing occupation," Hibatullah told IslamOnline.net over the phone from London.

The protestors also said the support of Bush and Blair to Sharon's plan send the message clear to Arabs.

"People come very clear the ulterior project in Iraq is similar to that behind the U.S. support for Israel," said John Rees of The Stop The War Coalition, the rally organizer.

"Is this the democracy Bush and Blair try to export to the Muslim world," asked Farid Sabry, a spokesperson for the co-organizer Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).

Iraq 'Crimes'

Anti-war protestors carrying a coffin during the demonstration (AFP)

The protestors called for an end to the "war crimes" committed by U.S. and British occupation forces in Iraq.

They shed light on the humanitarian crisis facing local inhabitants of Fallujah, a town west of Baghdad sealed off by American soldiers since April 5.

The U.S. offensive and bombardment left more than 600 Iraqis, mostly women and children, killed and at least 1500 others wounded.

The demonstrators dismissed the offensive as "the worst war crimes committed this century," in the words of one organizer.

The Legal Action Against War, a British anti-war group, said in March it wants the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to consider whether Blair and his government officials should be tried for war crimes over the Iraq occupation.

"We can not be silent anymore. These war crimes are being committed in our name. The victims of Iraq will remain on our conscience if we are inactive," Ahmed Sheikh, the MAB president.

"All lovers of peace and justice should show their solidarity with the Iraqi people to demanding that the occupation of Iraq cease. We support and will continue to support their right to determine their own destiny," he said in a press release before the protests.

Andrew Murray, Chair of the Stop the War Coalition, agreed, saying "the people of Iraq are demanding that the occupation of their country cease".

"People come very clear the ulterior project in Iraq is similar to that behind the U.S. support for Israel," said Rees

"We support their right to determine their own future, free from foreign interference," he added.

Murray’s group brought  an estimated one million people to demonstrate against the war in London a year ago and up to 200,000 who braved massive security to protest a visit by Bush to London in November 2003.

Blair bowed to mounting pressures and announced in February a cross-party inquiry  into the quality of British intelligence about Iraq's alleged weapons, which have not been found so far.

Organizers said protests are planned for the day in other areas as Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.