Protesters burn photo posters of Bush near the U.S. Embassy in Manila to protest the attack on Iraq

SYDNEY, March 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Tens of thousands of anti-war protestors were heading for the streets of Sydney and other major Australian cities Thursday, March 20, just hours after U.S., British and Australian forces began their assault on Iraq.

Meanwhile, Police in Tokyo tightened security around the U.S. Embassy, where peace demonstrators staged a fast.

Demonstrators also said they would descend on the American embassy in Canberra to voice their anger at the U.S.-led war launched Thursday without UN authorization, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Within minutes of the twin announcements from U.S. President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard that the war had begun, student groups called on their followers to quit their classrooms and down their pens in a "Books not bombs" campaign.

Thousands of students around the country have downed pens in protest against Australia's role in the war against Iraq which is now underway.

"The war has begun so we are protesting," Sydney University activist Simon Butler said shortly after television reports showed explosions rattling Baghdad.

"We will not sit in class and pretend everything is normal while our government helps carry out this massacre in our name," he said.

In Sydney the Walk Against War Coalition which brought 300,000 people into the streets last month in the biggest demonstration the country has seen in 30 years called a new mass protest for 5:00 pm (0600 GMT).

"President Bush has made his statement and now we're making ours," said organizer Bruce Childs, predicting that tens of thousands of people would turn out.

"It's an instant reaction of revulsion against this war," he said.

Organizers appealed to commuters to avoid Sydney's central business district during the rush-hour protest.

Other protests by peace organizations, trade unions and church groups were planned for Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city, Brisbane and other towns and cities.

Australia has sent some 2,000 troops to the Gulf, where they are taking part with nearly 300,000 U.S. and British soldiers in an aggression against Iraq.

Lawyers Threaten Action Against Australian Leader Over Iraq War

Meanwhile, peace activists warned Thursday they would report Australian Prime Minister John Howard to the International Criminal Court (ICC) if an attack on Iraq led to unjustifiable deaths of Iraqi citizens.

Lawyers for 41 humanitarian, church, union and community groups said their clients were concerned soldiers serving in the U.S.-led war to disarm Iraq would commit violations of international humanitarian law.

"A committee of Australian legal experts will be set up to assess any evidence of complicity in any U.S. war crimes or crimes against humanity," said Nick Maclellan, a leader of the Victorian Peace Network.

"If the committee concludes that Australian politicians have been complicit in such crimes perpetrated in Iraq, the committee will forward the information to the ICC prosecutor," he said.

The lawyers for the peace groups said they were writing Howard Thursday to warn about possible legal action over the war, expected to begin imminently following the expiration of a U.S. deadline.

Meanwhile an Australian woman, who has joined hundreds of "human shields" in Iraq to protest against a looming U.S.-led military attack, has also called for Howard to be prosecuted if she is killed in the war.

"If we get killed, we want our prime minister and anyone who's involved to be prosecuted for this as a war crime," Ruth Russell said.

The International Crime Statute states it is a war crime to intentionally launch an attack "in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment."

A second group of lawyers was trying Thursday to obtain a court injunction preventing Australian troops from taking part in a war, based on breaches of the national criminal code.

Australia Halts Wheat Exports To Iraq

Australian wheat exporter AWB said Thursday it had suspended wheat shipments to Iraq following the start of military action there and the suspension of the United Nations oil-for-food program.

AWB Ltd said two ships carrying a combined 100,000 tons (110,000 short tons) of wheat destined for Iraq had been diverted to Oman.

"AWB will hold both ships in a safe port zone at Oman until we can resume trade with Iraq either under a revised oil-for-food program or other mechanisms which may become available," AWB managing director Andrew Lindberg said.

"However, we also have the ability to sell this wheat to another customer if required."

Wheat exports to Iraq are worth 800 million dollars (472 million U.S.) annually to Australia which exports more wheat to Baghdad than any other country.

Earlier this week, AWB said one of the ships was in the vicinity of Iraq and the other was still two weeks away from berthing.

An AWB spokesman said it was likely the wheat would eventually go to Iraq after hostilities ceased but stressed the situation could change.

AWB shipped 1.8 million tons of wheat to Iraq last year and had a contract to ship one million tons this year, with United Nations approval.

Protests Elsewhere   

In Manila, hundreds of activists surrounded the U.S. embassy, clanging pots and blasting anti-war slogans through bullhorns.

In Bangkok, protesters held a sit-down protest against the U.S.-led war on Iraq in front of the U.S. embassy there on March 20, 2003.

Meanwhile In Tokyo, riot police tightened security around the U.S. Embassy, where demonstrators staged a fast.

"I came here because I wanted to do something," said college student Hiroichiro Oe, one of six demonstrators fasting outside the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo as riot police in heavy body armor stood nearby.

"Ordinary people are going to be the victims of this war," he said.

About 200 people joined the demonstration outside the embassy. A beefed up contingent of police with shields and staffs looked on, but there were no clashes.

"It's outrageous — they have no just cause for war," said Fumio Naotsuka, a high school teacher. "America is trying to change the regime in Iraq, and that's just arrogant."

Protests were expected elsewhere as well.

In the first hours of the attack, Pakistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikar Ahmed said he expected protests.

"Security arrangements have been made to handle these protests, but with tact," he added. "We will do it without the use of force."

In India, opposition was also heard.

"This is the beginning of the end of the domination of Western nations," said popular Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who in January refused Bush's invitation for a prayer breakfast at the White House.

"It is going to be a long drawn out tragedy. They may win this battle but they will lose this war," Bhatt said.

Leading members of the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement — South Africa, Malaysia, Cuba — denounced military action against Iraq.

"We view the imminent unilateral military action by the U.S. and its allies as an illegitimate act of aggression," the three countries said in a statement released by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

South Africa, Malaysia and Cuba — which are the past, present and future chairmen of the grouping — said a unilateral U.S.-led attack on Iraq would be "an illegitimate act of aggression."