Demonstrators protesting against the U.S.-led war on Iraq confront policemen outside the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo

TOKYO, March 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – On the second day of the U.S./British aggression on Iraq, signs of opposition to the new colonial powers came from different parts of the world with demonstrations in Japan, refusal to bow to U.S. pressure to expel Iraqi diplomats in Malaysia, rejecting U.S. tourists in Thai, and filling lawsuits against pro-U.S. Australian government.

In Tokyo, tens of thousands of Japanese took to the streets of the capital Friday, March 21, demanding the United States immediately end the war against Iraq and urging people to boycott American-made products, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Waving colorful banners daubed with anti-war slogans, the protesters gathered at Tokyo's Shiba Park near the foreign ministry before setting out for a 2.5-kilometer (1.6-mile) peace parade on a route which passed by the U.S. embassy here.

"The United States must end this foolish war. I cannot sit still knowing that innocent Iraqi civilians are being killed by U.S. attacks," said Satoru Sugimura, a 25-year-old graduate student majoring in sociology.

"My heart is with the people of Iraq. Although the Japanese government supports the war, Japanese people do not. I want to tell the Iraqi people Japanese people are opposed to the war," said Sugimura, who was carrying an Iraqi flag.

Organizers estimated that some 50,000 people took part in the protest here.

‘Bush, Stop Your Arrogance’

We see no reason why we should break ties with Baghdad, Hamid

A young female student carried a poster showing the face of U.S. President George W. Bush on the top of a bomb while a middle-aged man held a sign saying: "George W. Bush. Stop Your Arrogance."

Anger was also directed at Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who announced Japan's support for the war immediately after the launch of U.S. air strikes against Iraq Thursday, March 20.

"Shame on him. I am furious about his decision. He should have made every effort to avoid a war," said Toshio Takasugi, a 60-year-old office worker.

Meanwhile, a group of protesters called on people to boycott U.S.-made products, and displayed a list of hitherto popular U.S. brands to be shunned, including Ford, Nike, Starbucks and McDonald's.

"We should take action to show our strong opposition to the war. People should boycott US products to let the United States know we oppose the war," said Takahiro Asano, a 30-year-old office worker.

There were no reports of arrests or trouble during the rally.

No Expulsion To Iraqi Diplomats

Another way of saying no the U.S. armed burglary of Iraq, Malaysia on Friday rejected a U.S. request to cut ties with Saddam Hussein's regime and shut down the Iraqi mission here.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Kuala Lumpur does not see any reason why it should end ties with Baghdad or expel Iraqi diplomats from Malaysia.

"Our position remains the same. We see no reason why we should break ties with Baghdad. We have not severed our ties or closed our embassy," he told reporters in the new administrative capital south of Kuala Lumpur.

The United States Thursday asked governments worldwide to sever ties with Saddam Hussein's regime, shut down Iraq's embassies and freeze its assets until new authorities are in power in Baghdad.

Syed Hamid said the Iraqi embassy would continue to operate in Malaysia. "This will continue."

Malaysia has condemned the U.S.-led war against Iraq and calling it a "black mark in history" that would undermine the campaign against terrorism.

Malaysia would not expel Iraqi diplomats because there has not been any evidence they are involved in activities that threaten national security, he added.

"As far as Malaysia is concerned, we have not got that kind of evidence," he said.

Hamid said Malaysia's strong opposition to the war should not be interpreted as meaning it was anti-U.S. or its allies.

"We are not anti-US or its allies. This is an humanitarian issue. Civilian lives are at stake here," he said.

Hamid expressed concern that the pain inflicted on Iraqi people would fuel anger.

"That anger can be translated into terrorists acts. Of course we are concerned because this will encourage extremist groups.

"You take the law in your own hands, this will promote terrorism," he warned.

Iranian Leader Denounces Satanic War

Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday denounced the U.S.-led attack on neighboring Iraq as satanic and called on Iranians to get ready for an economic and cultural war.

Khamenei called for an immediate halt to the day-old war, in a message for the Iranian New Year.

"Today it is America which is alone," he said, condemning the arrogance and prejudice of American rulers and their belligerency.

He stressed, however, that he did not support Saddam Hussein's "dictatorial" Iraqi regime, which fought a bloody war with Iran from 1980 to 1988.

Iran defends not Saddam but "the Iraqi nation, and believes that the future of Iraq must be decided only by the Iraqi nation".

Khamenei, whose country figured with Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" by U.S. President George W. Bush last year, urged young Iranians to strengthen their resolution in the new year.

"Although we may have no military war, we will definitely have a political and economic and, especially, a cultural war."

In a separate message, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said the war spelled destruction for the oppressed Iraqi people and was dangerous for the whole region and the world.

Illusion Of A Superpower

The war "is a threat against humanity and global peace since it is based on the horrible illusion of a superpower which thinks since it has force it has the right to impose its demands at will at whatever cost," Khatami said.

Iran said Thursday its airspace was closed to belligerent forces.

Thai resort rejects US tourists to protest Iraq war 

No Welcome Note For U.S. Tourists

Even on the tourism level, Americans were not welcomed, as a hotel on one of Thailand's premier resort islands rejected American tourists to protest the U.S.-led war on Iraq, the resort's owner said Friday.

"I don't agree with America going to war. It will spread terrorism across the world and will adversely affect tourism in Asia," owner Virach Pongchababnapa of the Pavilion Resort on Koh Samui island told AFP.

"I have no weapon, my weapon is my rooms. Thus I have decided not to accept American travelers, and hence my resort would be safe from any possible attack on U.S. citizens," he said.

While three to four percent of the guests in the high-end, 62-room hotel are Americans, no new U.S. tourists have arrived and he had yet to turn any away.

If Americans do show up at his doorstep Virach said he will advise them to seek other accommodation.

Some six percent of Thailand's 10.8 million foreign visitors in 2002 were Americans, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The director of TAT's Koh Samui branch, Panu Woramit, said Virach's policy was a personal decision and did not reflect island sentiment.

"That does not represent the policy of the tourism business on Koh Samui, we still welcome American tourists," Panu said.

Thailand is the region's tourism superpower, earning an estimated 8.5 billion dollars in revenue from the industry last year, up 11.5 percent on 2001 according to TAT.

The tropical islands in the majority-Muslim south are a particularly favorite international draw.

Thai media on Friday showed images of protestors in southern Thailand emptying bottles of Pepsi in the streets to publicize a boycott of U.S. goods.

Meanwhile, Thai activists rally with banners opposing the war outside the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday. About 100 people took part in the rally to protest against U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Lawsuits In Australia

Moving to Australia where public opinion is fiercely against the war, an alliance of Australian farmers warned Friday that they will sue the government if the valuable Iraqi market is lost after the war.

The farmers, from South Australia and Western Australia, have called on the government to protect their arrangements with Iraq, long one of their biggest and most valued markets, saying future trade with post war Iraq is under threat.

The South Western alliance was concerned in the light of a U.S. statement indicating the United States would seek to control the wheat trade in Iraq after the war, WA Farmers Federation president Colin Nicholl said.

SA Farmers Federation president John Lush said the Iraqi wheat trade is worth 800 million dollars a year, and about 9,000 South Western alliance farmers supplied most of it.

Nicholl said it was up to the Australian government to ensure future trade was not jeopardized.

"Australian farmers value the trade with Iraq and if it is lost we will pursue the federal government for compensation," he said.

'Feed Iraqis After attacking Them'

The alliance also called on the government to organize food aid for the Iraqi people.

"Iraq has a fragile food chain supply and it is up to the Australian government to ensure the Iraqi people are not pushed into starvation as a result of this war," Nicholl said.

The Australian government announced Friday that it is sending two shiploads of wheat totaling 10,000 tons to help "feed" the people of Iraq after the war ends.

The wheat, worth an estimated 30 million dollars (17.7 million U.S.), is on top of the 17.5 million dollars in aid to post-war Iraq which the government had already promised.