Anti-war protesters hit out at Bush re-election

Over two dozen anti-war protesters gathered outside the American embassy in Dublin tonight in response to the re-election of President George Bush.

The demo was organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) which called for an end to the occupation of Iraq and to stopovers of US war planes in Shannon Airport.

Carrying flags and placards, the protest group chanted slogans like: “1,2,3,4. We don’t want your bloody war” while a number of passing cars honked their horns in support.

Speaking through a megaphone, IAWM spokesman Richard Boyd Barrett said Mr Bush’s second term of office was “bad news for the US and even worse news for the rest of the world”.

Protesters cited a recent report in the Lancet periodical which claimed that up to 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since US troops entered the country in March 2003.

IAWM activists and other groups have planned other public demos in central Dublin tomorrow and at Shannon Airport on November 13.