"There's been too much capital invested in this war for it not to happen. But we're making our position clear, we're saying `no,'" protester Adam Conway said.
"This war is a war for oil," said Marie-George Buffet, national secretary of the Communist Party, as she marched at the head of a Paris protest. "The way to fight Saddam Hussein is to let the United Nations inspectors do their job."
In all, 48 French cities and towns were due to hold marches. Protests were also planned in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia.
About 4,000 peaceful protesters turned out in Gothenburg, Sweden, police said. A slogan read: "Drop Bush not bombs."
In Britain, anti-war protesters from London to Liverpool lampooned Blair in their efforts to rally opposition.
At the Northwood military headquarters near London, two people dressed up as a pantomime horse with a mask of Bush on the head and Blair at the rear.
Elsewhere, church leaders and politicians mingled with peace campaigners as separate protests were held in London, Liverpool, Bradford, Bristol and Cardiff.
Put together, the British demonstrations drew fewer than 10,000 people, but Andrew Burgin, a protest coordinator, said the events were a preview of protests in the coming days. A vast rally is planned for London on Feb. 15.
In Canada, thousands of people protested a possible war as a new poll showed 62 percent of Canadians think the country's armed forces should only take part in a US-led attack on Iraq if the assault is authorized by the UN.
RSS