Thousands marching in London, demand Middle East cease-fire

British police apprehending a protestor during a demonstration in London on Saturday calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East. (Reuters)

August 5, 2006

By Reuters

LONDON - Thousands marched through London to demand a halt to the Lebanon war on Saturday as the British government tried to deflect criticism that it has failed to call for an immediate cease-fire.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has come under fire at home for following U.S. President George W. Bush's lead on the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and refusing to call for an immediate halt to hostilities.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London holding placards reading "End Israeli crimes in Lebanon" and "Freedom for Palestine". Police said around 15,000 people were marching but organizers put the number at more than 100,000.

The Stop the War Coalition, a group formed to oppose the U.S.-led "war on terror" which helped organize the march, urged demonstrators to pile children's shoes near Blair's residence in protest at the death of children in the war.

"This will be a memorial to the hundreds killed in Lebanon," a spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said in a statement.

Marchers were also hand in a petition to Blair urging the government to call for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire.

Despite Blair's decision to delay his holiday to take part in negotiations on a United Nations resolution aimed at stopping the fighting, members of his Labour Party kept up attacks on his stance.

"Our prime minister has failed to represent the country's feelings during the conflict," Mohammad Sarwar, one of a number of Labour legislators calling for parliament to return from its summer break to discuss the crisis, told BBC radio.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton, speaking for the government, denied the cabinet was split and tried to placate critics by saying Blair was making efforts to stop the war.

"The prime minister has made it very clear that the present situation simply cannot continue ... The violence is unacceptable," Hutton told the BBC, adding that Blair was trying to bring the conflict to an end as quickly as possible.

Israel has responded to Hezbollah rocket attacks by pounding Lebanon with devastating air strikes. At least 734 people in Lebanon and 75 Israelis have been killed.

Hutton said London had made clear to Israel that its actions must be proportionate and comply with international law.

Minister and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw fuelled reports of cabinet divisions last week when he called Israel's bombing of Lebanon "disproportionate". Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have avoided similar language.

A spokesman for Blair said he had talked to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday and would make further calls on Saturday. "The prime minister believes progress is being made in New York (at the United Nations)," he said.

Worried by Blair's plunging popularity, some Labour politicians were already urging him to quit sooner rather than later, after he said he would not stand in the next election expected in 2009.

Blair's stance on the Lebanon crisis has further weakened his authority, potentially hastening his departure from office.

Link:

At least 100, 000 March Against US-Israeli Aggression