Anti-war protests yesterday drew hundreds of thousands of people in cities around the world -- from London to Canberra -- united in their opposition to a threatened US-led strike against Iraq.
The British capital saw one of the largest marches for peace on a day of global protest -- at least a million people, organizers claimed. They hoped to turn out half a million people and bring pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been Europe's biggest supporter of the tough US policy.
"I feel they should take more time and find an alternative, and not see the only solution to the problem in bombarding the country," said Maria Harvey, 58, a child psychologist, who said she hadn't marched since the protests against the Gulf War in 1991.
Hundreds of thousands marched through Berlin, backing the strong anti-war stance spearheaded by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Police estimated the crowd between 300,000 and 500,000.
Well over a million Italians took part in a massive rally in Rome with organisers hailing the protest as "the largest peace demonstration in Italian history".
People from all over the country converged on the Italian capital from the early hours of the morning, waving the rainbow-coloured peace flag and crowding its streets behind a large banner reading: "No to war, no ifs or buts. Stop war in Iraq".
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government has emerged as one of the US' strongest supporters in Europe, despite recent polls estimating the public's opposition to a war at nearly 70 per cent.
Crowds were estimated at 30,000 in Dublin, 10,000 in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, 5,000 in Capetown and 4,000 in Johannesburg in South Africa, 5,000 in Tokyo, and 2,000 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Anti-war activists hoped to draw 100,000 people to the streets in New York City later for a protest near the United Nations. Police were planning extensive security that included sharpshooters and radiation detectors.
In Baghdad, tens of thousands of Iraqis, many carrying Kalashnikovs, demonstrated across their country to support Saddam Hussein and denounce the US.
"Our swords are out of their sheaths, ready for battle," read one of hundreds of banners carried by marchers along Palestine Street, a broad Baghdad avenue.
Many Iraqis hoisted giant pictures of Saddam and some burned American and Israeli flags, while in neighboring Damascus, protesters chanted anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans as they marched to the People's Assembly.
Najjah Attar, a former Syrian cabinet minister, accused Washington of attempting to change the region's map. "The US wants to encroach upon our own norms, concepts and principles," she said in Damascus. "They are reminding us of the Nazi and fascist times."
Braving biting cold and snow flurries in Ukraine, some 2,000 people rallied in Kiev's central square. Anti-globalists led a peaceful "Rock Against War" protest joined by communists, socialists, Kurds and pacifists.
Demonstrators clogged a downtown park in Seoul, South Korea, to listen to anti-war speeches.
"I am scared, but the Iraqi people must be more scared than I am. I share their fear," said Eun Kook, a 23-year-old student planning to go to Iraq. "My mission is to sympathize with the Iraqi people and to tell the world that we oppose war."
The day of protest began in New Zealand, where thousands gathered in cities across the country. Over Auckland harbor, a plane trailed a banner reading "No War -- Peace Now," at the America's Cup sailing competition.
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