Thousands take ant-war protest to Scottish Parliament

THOUSANDS of demonstrators surged up the Mound to converge outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday afternoon to protest against a war with Iraq.

Police estimated there were about 3,000 present, but march organisers put the numbers at twice that amount.

Speakers including Tommy Sheridan MSP and George Galloway MP addressed the crowds, who represented a host of nationalities, age groups and viewpoints.

The veteran journalist turned politician Dorothy-Grace Elder said she had not seen such a surge of popular activism since the 1970s. "This is the biggest demonstration I have seen in Edinburgh since the days of the protests against apartheid," she added.

The former bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, was also in the crowd. "I think it is extraordinary and very moving," he said.

"It has become a matter of principle for Tony Blair not to take notice, but I think he has to take notice. This could destroy the Labour Party."

Demonstrators carried banners, as well as flags which represented socialist and green groups. A huge model of a gagged and bound UN weapons inspector was carried along Princes Street. Large puppets of Tony Blair and George Bush danced below the Scottish parliament to a samba band.

There were hundreds of schoolchildren on the protest, many carrying placards which read "Spare the Innocents and Don’t Bomb Babies."

A 12-year-old Boroughmuir High School pupil said: "If lots of people show they disagree with the war I think they will have to take notice and stop the war."

Danny Krause, an industrial technician, said she had not been on a demo for 20 years, "I don’t want people murdered in my name," she said.

Abdul Saadi, an Iraqi Kurd, said he was there to represent the interests of his people in Northern Iraq.

"We don’t like Saddam Hussein, but our people have been given a safe haven for ten years. We are very worried."

Mr Sheridan, the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, said a conflict would be a "massacre", in which the World Health Organisation predicted there could be between 100,000 and 500,000 casualties in the first five days.

An anti-war protest in Glasgow last month attracted about 80,000 people.