FROM BBC NEWS (uk)
Saturday, 15 February, 2003, 14:06 GMT
Millions join anti-war protests worldwide
Protests: Moving westwards as the day progresses
Millions of people worldwide are joining in demonstrations against a possible US-led war against Iraq.
Hundreds of rallies and marches are taking place in up to 60 countries this weekend.
Crowds have been gathering in London, where a rally culminating in Hyde Park is expected to draw more than half a million protesters.
High profile speakers are lined up in London
Massive demonstrations - a day after UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix issued a largely positive assessment of the UN's disarmament process in Iraq - are also being organised in Rome, Berlin and New York.
Tens of thousands of people braved bitter weather to converge on the German capital from the east and west of the city.
Along with France, Germany has been one of the most vociferous opponents of war with Iraq.
The BBC's Ray Furlong in Berlin says a real cross-section of people are taking part in the demonstration - young students, families with children, as well as pensioners - reflecting the strong anti-war feeling that runs right through German society.
And demonstrators in Paris are preparing to march on the city's traditional rallying point - the Place de la Bastille.
Some of the first protests on Saturday were seen in New Zealand, as environmental pressure group Greenpeace flew a plane over Auckland harbour trailing a banner reading "No War, Peace Now". What the US is doing now is wrong
Japanese housewife
About 5,000 marched through Auckland and a similar number in the capital Wellington.
Rallies are being held in several cities in Australia, where a protest in Melbourne on Friday drew a crowd estimated by organisers at 150,000 - the largest there since anti-Vietnam War marches 30 years ago.
In Seoul - capital of South Korea, one of the staunchest US allies in Asia - hundreds of demonstrators rallied, shouting chants such as "Bush, Terrorist!" and carrying banners urging "Drop Bush, not bombs".
Celebrities
In London, organisers are confidently predicting the country's largest anti-war protest.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has suffered a fall in popularity following his staunch support of US plans to launch military action against Saddam Hussein.
Some protesters dressed up for the occasion
"We believe that the London demonstration will be one of the biggest and the most pivotal because the British Government is actively involved in the build up to war and the British people definitely do not want war," said Stop The War UK leader Andrew Murray.
Speakers at the rally in Hyde Park include Charles Kennedy, leader of Britain's second-biggest opposition party and US activist Jesse Jackson.
In New York a protest is scheduled to start at 1200 local time (1700GMT) near UN headquarters - the currently scene of intense diplomatic discussions following Friday's report by Hans Blix. |
