Rallies Mark First Anniversary Of Iraq War

“Many Australians are disappointed that the government ignored their voices," said Anna Sampson, one of the demonstrators.

In the northeastern Australian city of Brisbane, marchers unfurled a 300 -foot-long banner with the words: “We still say no to war”.

They also held a lofty effigy of Prime Minister John Howard in a cage, saying it represented Australian terror suspects detained at the notorious U.S. military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

They planned to bring down a fake statue of Howard, mocking the toppling last year of the statue of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

“By the end of this24 -hour cycle, millions of people will have marched throughout the world asking their governments not to take them to war and to give them peace,” organizer Pamela Curr said.

Howard was one of the staunch supporters of the U.S.-led war to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan.

Australia sent2 , 000troops to fight in Iraq despite overwhelming public opposition to the war.

First U.S. Rally
In the United States, hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of San Francisco and Michigan Friday, March19 , setting stage for sweeping rally across the country.

They chanted anti-war slogans and carried signs to voice their opposition to the invasion, The New York Times said.

“We need to bring this unjust war to an end,” said Jack Heyman, of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

One organizer with a loud speaker encouraged participants to take “autonomous action” and engage in civil disobedience.

Eleven people were arrested for blocking traffic, and another six protestors were arrested for trying to block the entrance to the corporate headquarters of Bechtel Corp., a large engineering firm that holds major contracts for reconstruction work in Iraq.

Protesters participated in yoga, flashed peace sings and wore colorful masks as they made their way through the city’s streets.

Since the start of the war to occupy Iraq, up to 389 U.S. troops have been killed in resistance attacks — 274 of them since Washington declared major combat over on May1 .

Large demonstrations were expected on Saturday in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, with big turnouts hoped for in up to 200 cities across the United States.

Rallies are expected later in Britain, Italy, Spain- whose governments supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

In London, thousands of balloons will be released in memory of those killed in the Iraq conflict and in the Madrid bomb attacks.

Amnesty International said in a new report Friday that over 10 , 000Iraqi civilians have been killed since March20 , 2003 as a “direct result” of the U.S.-led military offensive on Iraq.