Anti-war protests to continue in Britain

OPPOSITION to the war against Iraq is still widespread and protests will continue even if the military action ends soon, campaigners said yesterday.

Britain’s Stop The War Coalition condemned the military strike against Arabian TV station Al-Jazeera, which it said had been trying to show the true horrors of the conflict.

Labour MP Alice Mahon told a Westminster news conference she was amazed that the fighting was still continuing, given the imbalance between a Third World country and the world’s biggest military machine.

She said she deplored the loss of so many lives and called for a halt to the war so that the United Nations and aid agencies could enter Iraq immediately.

The MP said she believed the attack on Al-Jazeera was deliberate and had taken away the right of the United States to call itself a democracy.

“We are now seeing the real face of this ugly and unnecessary war,” she said.

Ms Mahon said she would strongly oppose any attempt to withdraw the whip from fellow Labour MPs George Galloway and Tam Dalyell for their outspoken comments against Britain’s involvement in the war.

Ms Mahon said it would be “outrageous” if the two MPs faced any sort of disciplinary action from the party, adding: “War is a matter of conscience.”

Lindsey German, the Stop The War Coalition’s convenor, said: “The notion that the anti-war movement has melted away is not the case.

“There is widespread opposition to this war and the more people see of the civilian casualties and the bombing of Basra and Baghdad, it makes people’s revulsion even stronger.

“Every day hundreds if not thousands of Iraqi women, children and men are being killed and injured, which is one of the reasons why the international anti-war movement is still on high alert.”

A number of new protests and demonstrations will be held over the next few days, including rallies outside town halls across Britain today to coincide with the Budget, as a mark of protest against the amount of money being spent on British involvement in the war.

School students will be holding so-called Parties for Peace at the end of the school day tomorrowOK, and there will be a national demonstration in London on Saturday, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of protesters from across Britain.

The traditional May 1 rally in London will also have an anti-war message, and other demonstrations are being planned.