coverage from the bbc: london anti-war protest

Thousands stage anti-war protest
Protesters march past Big Ben
The march began near Parliament
Several thousand protesters are taking part in a demonstration in central London against the conflict in Iraq.

The route has taken protesters along Whitehall and into Piccadilly before reaching Hyde Park for a rally.

Fathers of two British soldiers killed in Iraq addressed protesters before the march started Parliament at noon.

Scotland Yard said about 10,000 protesters were taking part, but organisers Stop The War Coalition said the figure was about 100,000.

As the marchers walked up Whitehall, some campaigners shouted: "Down with Downing Street" and "Stop the bombings".

Among the protesters was Sue Smith, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, whose son Phillip Hewett died in July when a roadside bomb exploded under his vehicle near Basra.

Ms Smith delivered a letter to the prime minister urging him to pull British troops out of Iraq.


You made the decision to go to Iraq and you can make the decision to get our sons and daughters out of there
Letter to Tony Blair from a parent of a soldier killed in Iraq

She broke down in tears as she read out the letter out the crowd at Hyde Park.

In her letter, she said: "Seven weeks ago we saw our son for the last time in a coffin at the chapel of rest. (We were) looking down on the face of a son that I had given birth to and loved with all my heart, knowing that I would never see him again.

"You made the decision to go to Iraq and you can make the decision to get our sons and daughters out of there."

Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop The War coalition, was the first to speak to the demonstrators, saying: "We are marching to defend our civil liberties which are under attack and to show our solidarity with the Muslim communities who are bearing the brunt of that attack."

Peter Brierly (right) speaks to the crowd as Territorial Army soldier George Solomou (second from right) and Bianca Jagger (fourth from right) look on
Peter Brierley (right) spoke to the crowd before the march began

Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, read out a message from London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

It said: "The war and occupation have brought neither democracy nor peace to Iraq.

"We have made life harder and far more dangerous for the population of that country."

British soldier Lance-Corporal George Solomou, who refused his call-up to serve in Iraq, said: "The British people are increasingly realising that they have been told more and more lies about the war."

Earlier, Reg Keys, whose son Tom was one of six military policemen killed in June 2003, and Peter Brierley, whose son Shaun died in Kuwait in April of that year, called for British troops to be brought home.

The coalition said the recent clashes involving British troops in Basra highlighted the urgent need to bring the "occupation" to an end.