SANAA, 3 April 2003 — Two weeks into the war in Iraq, thousands of people across the Arab world again held anti-war protests yesterday, with demonstrators in Yemen demanding the expulsion of the US and British envoys. In Sanaa, hundreds of activists chanted anti-US slogans and marched toward the Iraqi Embassy before calling in a written statement for the “expulsion of the American and British ambassadors and the severing of diplomatic relations with Washington and London”.
In the communique addressed to Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh, the protesters also called for “a boycott of American and British products and the maintenance of humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq” during the US-British offensive. In the province of Taez, thousands of protesters issued their own call to eject the US and British envoys and shouted anti-American rallying cries.
In the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, some 10,000 Lebanese and Palestinian demonstrators lashed out at Washington and London and scolded Arab leaders for failing to act against the war in Iraq.
Meanwhile in Syria, government employees observed a ten-minute work stoppage yesterday to protest the coalition’s military offensive against the Iraqi regime, the official SANA agency reported.
The state news agency quoted the head of the country’s labor unions as saying the stoppage was a “message to the countries carrying out the illegal aggression” against Iraq and calling for an Arab boycott of US and British products. Sudanese workers in Khartoum also halted work for ten minutes in solidarity with Iraq, and many held collective prayers for God to defeat the US-led coalition, an AFP corespondent reported.
Australian police used pepper spray on anti-war demonstrators yesterday as radical students rallied in central Sydney despite an official ban following rioting at a similar protest last week. About 400 protesters at the Books Not Bombs rally were penned into Town Hall Square by more than 200 police and warned they would be arrested if they attempted to break the cordon and stage a street march.
Carrying placards declaring “Arab voices will not be silenced” and “no blood for oil”, most protesters satisfied themselves with chanting anti-war slogans. However, police said there were three arrests and one undercover officer was forced to use pepper spray to defend himself when he was pinned against a wall by a group of young men.
Another small group caused minor damage at the nearby Darling Harbor tourist area after the main demonstration broke up, throwing cafe chairs into the water and knocking shop displays over. Organizers said they were determined to stage a peaceful protest.
