100,000 vent anger at Bush
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A paper mache effigy of Bush is toppled in London's Trafalgar Square.
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LONDON, England (AP) -- Protesters came from every corner of Britain to vent their fury at President Bush, deriding him as everything from a terrorist to a pretzel-munching chimp.
But police and protesters agreed that Thursday's march through London, though laced with anger toward Bush and his major ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was generally a model of peaceful behavior. Police said between 100,000 and 110,000 people took part.
"We've had a very good-tempered march, and there have been no particular problems," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter, who oversaw the Metropolitan Police's deployment of more than 5,100 officers along the parade route to Trafalgar Square.
As night fell, police struggled to contain a few hundred demonstrators who broke away from the Trafalgar Square rally and darted down a nearby street. Officers linked arms surrounding the protesters and arrested several who refused to move off the road.
At least 67 people had been arrested so far during the president's visit for offenses including public disorder, drunkenness and writing graffiti, officials said.
The Stop the War Coalition, which organized the main demonstration and several other smaller protests since Bush's arrival on Tuesday, claimed their efforts had forced the president to restrict his movements around the British capital.
They concluded their show of force by knocking over an effigy of Bush -- mocking the toppling of Saddam Hussein statues by U.S. forces in Iraq.
"We occupied central London for the day and put George Bush under house arrest," said march leader Chris Nineham. "He came to London hoping for a big welcome. Well, only two people welcomed him: Tony Blair and the queen."
Bush and Blair said at a joint news conference they respected the protesters' rights, but suggested they were hypocritical.
"Freedom is beautiful," Bush said. "All I know is that people in Baghdad weren't allowed to do this until recent history."
The crowds included many students and critics of Israel. Many waved handwritten placards and banners with hostile messages for Bush that included the crudest of slurs.
"Choke on it, monkey-boy," said one placard that pictured a jug-eared Bush eating a pretzel. "Bush off to hell Zionist dog," demanded another.
As marchers chanting "George Bush, terrorist" made their way through a business district, a few scuffled with three Bush supporters holding U.S. flags and a sign saying "support America." Police quickly intervened and hustled the three counter-demonstrators into a nearby building.
Some demonstrators proffered overtly anti-American and anti-Jewish messages, such as upside-down U.S. flags covered in Nazi swastikas or Stars of David. The march's vanguard also featured a group of about 50 Americans living abroad. One of their banners read "Proud of my country, ashamed of my president."
Anti-war protesters gather to vent their criticism.
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"I just felt I had to protest against Bush's policies and not sit at home fuming," said Therese Munn, who before moving to London lived in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Munn said many of her American friends had lost jobs during the U.S. economic downturn or were struggling to pay medical bills. "I don't understand how Bush can justify spending billions extra on defense when these more basic needs of employment and medical care aren't being met," she said.
Many in the crowd said Thursday's bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, which killed more than two dozen people, strengthened their resolve to oppose U.S.-British policy in Iraq.
"There have been more and more bombings since the action in Iraq and more terrorism," said Mischa Gorris, a 37-year-old London lawyer. "You will never change the hearts and minds of terrorists by bombing them. This is what you will get."
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
