Thousands protest Iraq war in US, UK

Thousands protesters marched against the Iraq War in the US and Britain on Saturday, with at least 2,000 people demonstrating in Los Angeles and 10,000 in London.

Police that at least 2,000 people marched down Hollywood Boulevard in the tourist district of Los Angeles, holding up coffins draped with the US flag and led by veterans from various conflicts.

The protesters carried banners denouncing US President George W. Bush and calling for an end to the conflict. Organizers put the figure at 10,000.

The protest came ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20.

Jennifer Caldwell, spokeswoman for organizers the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, said that "up to 10,000 persons marched today in Hollywood."

Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, whose book Born on the Fourth of July was turned into a film with Tom Cruise, joined the march in his wheelchair, flanked by other injured veterans.

Shot paralyzed in Vietnam 40 years ago, he said he felt "sorrow" and "anguish" for the Iraqi people and for the US men and women fighting there, "who are suffering, who are losing their arms and legs, who are being killed."

"But I feel more than anything, when I see what's going on in Iraq I feel determined, determined to fight with everything within us to stop this madness," he said.

The march ended on Sunset Boulevard, where organizers said they hoped several California lawmakers and actors would join the demonstrators.

"We've been in the war for five years, right now we're about to be in a recession and trillions of our dollars are going to a war we don't want to be in," a protester told the crowd from the platform.

In Britain, thousands of anti-war protesters also joined marches to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the war.

They took to the streets in London and Glasgow, demanding that British troops pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the Stop The War coalition, which organized the marches, said that five years after the invasion of Iraq, the world had become "a much more dangerous place."

"Estimates suggest as many as 1 million people have died violent deaths as a result of the occupation of Iraq," spokesman Paul Collins said.

The British Foreign Office, however, disputed statements by Stop The War.

"In Iraq, there is clear evidence we are making steady progress, particularly in terms of security," a spokesman said.

"In Afghanistan NATO forces are winning the struggle against the Taliban," he said.

Organizers that the London march had attracted up to 40,000 protesters. Police put the figure at 10,000. In Glasgow the demonstration attracted several hundred protesters.