Thousands protest in Australia against Mideast violence

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(AFP Photo) - Thousands protest in Australia against Mideast violence (Sat 22 Jul, 04:56 PM)

July 22, 2006

SYDNEY (AFP) - More than 10,000 people have marched through Australia's largest city calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

The crowd waved Australian and Lebanese flags and carried coffins and placards saying "No War" as they made their way through central Sydney, escorted by about 400 police.

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib and the Australian Muslim community's spiritual leader Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali joined the demonstration, which police said was conducted peacefully.

An Lebanese-Australian woman, who gave her name only as Diana, told Australian Associated Press she feared for her family in Lebanon.

"They are murdering children and burying them under rubble," she said.

"Something has to be done about this. I've got my mum and dad in Lebanon, my grandfather up in the mountains and my brother and his family were lucky to escape."

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the government was arranging chartered flights home for citizens evacuated from Lebanon to Cyprus and Turkey.

Up to 6,000 Australian citizens are scheduled to be ferried to safety on chartered boats by Sunday evening, with 65 military personnel and 26 extra diplomatic staff sent to Lebanon late this week to help process evacuees.

Downer said evacuees who normally lived in Australia would be flown home from Cyprus or Turkey free of charge, while those who normally reside in Lebanon would have to reimburse the government after their arrival.

More than 160,000 Australians claim Lebanese ancestry, making them one of the largest ethnic groups after Britons, Italians and Greeks. There are also some 25,000 dual Lebanese-Australian nationals living in Lebanon.

The government has rejected criticism it has been too slow in evacuating citizens from Lebanon, with Prime Minister John Howard describing the massive logistical operation as "the largest movement of Australians overseas ever in our history".