ISLAMABAD, 27 March 2003 — About 2,000 anti-war demonstrators carrying mock-up portraits of the US president dressed as Dracula marched through the central Pakistani city of Multan yesterday, many drenched in red paint to symbolize Iraqi casualties.
Comparing President George Bush to the fictitious “prince of darkness”, protesters chanted slogans demonizing him and British Premier Tony Blair as they demanded an immediate end to the war in Iraq.
Shouting “Down with Bush and Blair, Down with America and its agents, Long Live Iraq and Long live Saddam Hussein” they paraded through the main streets before dispersing peacefully.
Separately, about 200 women joined by lawyers and other welfare organizations staged demonstrations outside the city’s press club, demanding an immediate halt to the US-led attacks.
A complete strike was observed in the nearby towns of Mailsi and Hasilpur to express solidarity with Iraqi people and to mourn the death of Iraqis in the war.
Pakistan’s minority Christian community also held special services for world peace at Multan Cathedral and condemned Bush and Blair, describing them as “war mongers.” A protest walk in the city led by Bishop Andrew Francis was attended by women and children carrying candles as a symbol of peace.
In the southern port city of Karachi about 1,000 university students joined by teachers and employees staged an anti-US rally on their campus, torching US, British and Israeli flags and effigies of Bush, Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
They also carried banners that read “Axis of evil: Bush, Blair, Sharon” and “Oil is not more precious than human blood.”
In the northwestern tribal district of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan about 2,000 tribesmen and traders took to the streets, urging the government to help them participate in the jihad in Iraq. Traders also staged a two-hour shutdown.
“We are with the Iraqi people and ready to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with them against US-led forces,” Bajaur Traders Union President Haji Khan Badshah told the rally. “The government should allow us to go to Iraq and participate in jihad against infidels,” he said, adding that tribal youth were donating blood to be sent to Iraq.
