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Iraq protest causes chaos
By Rob McNeil, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 01.11.02
Defiance: a young woman protester is held by police during the London march
Traffic was brought to a standstill in central London as 3,000 protesters against a war on Iraq marched on Parliament.
They paralysed a large area around Trafalgar Square during the rush hour by sitting in front of traffic.
The group had marched from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street last night before congregating at the junction of Aldwych and Kingsway where they stopped the traffic for almost an hour. One protester carried a bannersaying "Nightmare on Downing-Street" and had fake blood smeared on his shirt sleeves.
Although most of the protest was peaceful, some skirmishes did break out and police arrested at least eight people, including one of the protest's organisers, Helen Salmon, for public order offences.
The march and road blocks were part of a national day of action organised by the Stop The War Coalition.
A large police presence monitored the protesters as they moved towards Downing Street, followed by officers on horseback.
In Whitehall, police removed CND demonstrators staging a sitdown protest, including two elderly women who were carried away.
Omar Waraich, 20, a student who helped to organise the protest, said: "We have been apologising to the thousands of drivers caught up in the traffic jams. But we want them to know that, though we are not so naive as to think that the war against Iraq can be stopped by what we are doing, it is not being carried out in our name."
Addressing the crowd, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn demanded a Commons-vote on whether to declare war while writer and broadcaster Tariq Ali urged British soldiers to remember the example of Israeli reservists who had refused to serve in the occupied territories.
At the London School of Economics, students debated the threat of war with Iraq, echoing the Vietnam protests of 30 or so years ago.
The Stop The War Coalition says the campaign against military action is gaining momentum. They cite an opinion poll which says 40 per cent of people oppose the war with only 35 per cent backing Tony Blair's approach. Andrew Murray, chair of the coalition, said: "We represent a clear majority of people."
