|
Protestors Flood Arab, Islamic Capitals, Slam U.S. War Plans
|
|
An Iraqi flag flies in the wind as demonstrators march to the U.N. headquarters in Manama
|
MANAMA,
January 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – As hundreds of
thousands of anti-war activists were gearing up for massive
demonstrations across the globe Saturday, January 18, angry
demonstrators flooded the streets of Arab and Islamic capitals Friday,
January 17, to protest the U.S. war rhetoric and military build-up in
the Gulf.
Around
3,000 people took to the streets of the Bahraini capital Manama to
protest a looming U.S.-led war on Iraq and demonstrate opposition to
U.S. military bases in the region, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"The
American is a colonizer who has come to cause destruction!",
"From Baghdad to Bahrain, one people and not two, from Baghdad to
Ras al-Roman, everyone against the Americans!" The protestors
chanted, in reference to the Ras al-Roman mosque in east Manama where
the protest was staged after weekly Muslim prayers.
"No
U.S. bases in Muslim countries!" The demonstrators thundered,
waving Bahraini, Iraqi and Palestinian flags.
Lawmakers,
leaders of political groupings and human rights advocates led the
protest.
"This
demonstration is a message of protest against the policy of the United
States, which seeks to exercise its domination over the world,"
said Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the main Shiite Muslim grouping, the
Islamic National Accord Association (INAA).
"We
also want to express our opposition to the use of U.S. bases in our
country in a strike on Iraq," Sheikh Ali told AFP.
The
protestors, an American woman among them, walked two kilometers from the
mosque to the U.N. headquarters in Manama before dispersing without
incident.
Bahrain,
a major non-NATO ally of Washington and home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth
Fleet as well as thousands of U.S. military personnel, has been the site
of several anti-war, pro-Iraq and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in
recent weeks.
Last
March, Bahrainis staged a series of demonstrations against Israel and
Washington's support for the Jewish state after Israeli forces launched
a large-scale military offensive in the West Bank.
And
on April 5, a man died and more than 100 people were injured during a
demonstration in which some 20,000 mostly Bahraini protesters took part
and during which stones and petrol bombs were lobbed at the U.S. embassy
in Manama.
Palestinians
Commemorate Gulf War I, Rally against New One
|
| A Palestinian demonstrator holds up portraits of Saddam Hussein and Arafat during a demonstration in Gaza City. |
Also
Friday, some 4,000 Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza City to protest
U.S. threats to unleash a new aggression on Iraq.
The
rally was organized by the National and Islamic Forces, an umbrella
grouping all Palestinian factions, and the newly-formed Popular
Committee for the Safeguard of Iraq.
"From
Gaza to Baghdad, the Arabs shall not lose. No to the U.S. aggression
against brotherly Iraq!" They chanted.
The
demonstrators carried huge pictures of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
wearing the traditional Arab checkered headdress, made famous by
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
"The
Arab nation must defeat U.S. terrorism," the crowd chanted.
The
marchers waved Iraqi and Palestinian flags side by side, while some
burnt Israeli and American flags.
In
a communiqué distributed at the gathering, the organizers called for
similar demonstrations to be held regularly throughout the West Bank and
Gaza Strip from Sunday, January 19.
A
similar rally is due to be held in the northern West Bank city of Nablus
Saturday.
Egyptian
Women Rally against War Outside U.S. Embassy
In
Cairo, several dozen Egyptian women protestors staged a sit-in outside
the U.S. embassy Friday to voice their opposition to any war against
Iraq.
The
demonstrators all wore black and held candles.
"Women
are opposed to a war on Iraq," a banner said.
Meanwhile,
around 1,000 people held an anti-war march after the main weekly Muslim
prayers at Cairo's historic Al-Azhar mosque, Egypt's official MENA news
agency reported.
A
bigger rally is planned in central Cairo Saturday, to coincide with
anti-war demonstrations around the world this weekend.
Turkish
Join Anti-war Demonstrations
 |
| Turkish peace advocates holding banners with anti-war slogans |
Within
the same context, Turkish peace activists staged Friday a demonstration
in front of the American Embassy in Ankara.
In
Istanbul, police arrested a protestor during a demonstration against
Washington's war plan.
Recent
opinion poll indicate that 80 percent of the Turkish people are against
a U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Hundreds
of thousands of people from 18 countries, including U.S. and Britain,
will take to the streets on Saturday to protest an upcoming U.S.-led
aggression on Iraq.
Tens
thousands of activists from around the United States are to descend on
the capital city this weekend to voice their opposition to any war
against Iraq.
Similar
anti-war marches are to take place Saturday in dozens of French towns
and cities, including one in Paris.
"A
battle has been joined between public opinion and the forces that want
the war," Arielle Denis, of the Movement for Peace group, told a
press conference in Paris Thursday, January 16.
Her
group is one of 40 coordinating the protests.
The
participants plan to proclaim "loud and clear that France will
refuse all military engagement and any logistical support" for a
war on Iraq and push for Paris to veto any new resolution authorizing
force.
France's
opposition Socialist Party has joined the movement and plans to
distribute a petition setting out the demands.
An
expected 10,000 people will march through central Tokyo at the weekend,
joining a worldwide anti-war drive.
|
