By Luke Baker
ReutersNovember 9, 2002
Angered by U.N. moves against Iraq and fired with anti-Americanism, some 150,000 protesters were set to march through Florence on Saturday in what organisers called the first Europe-wide anti-war rally. Some 20 trains and hundreds of special buses began arriving in the early hours, bringing demonstrators from across the continent to a city that has virtually shut-down for the event.
The march is one of the largest public safety challenges Italian security forces have faced since the G8 summit in Genoa last year, when 300,000 demonstrators took to the streets and an orgy of violence left one protester dead and hundreds injured. Police were out in force on Saturday along the seven-km (4.5 miles) route of the march, which skirts the city's art-rich historical centre, concerned that violent fringe groups that wrought havoc in Genoa might infiltrate the demonstration. Some 7,000 police have been assigned to patrol the area where nervous shopkeepers have pulled down the shutters and authorities have covered up fragile monuments.
The march was planned months ago, but organisers said it had been given added relevance by Friday's unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council, which handed Iraq one last chance to disarm or face almost certain war. "It's obvious that the U.S. is gagging for a war, which is an absolute disaster for the Iraqi people and makes our protests and demonstrations even more essential," Guy Taylor, an activist with Britain's Globalise Resistance, told Reuters.
"This is the first Europe-wide anti-war demonstration and I think it's vital it has a real impact. There's such strong underlying opposition to the war that I think we can stop it."
"SCANDALOUS"
While Friday's U.N. resolution gives the Security Council a central role in assessing the new arms' inspection programme for Iraq, it does not force the United States to seek council authorisation for war in the case of violations.
"It's a scandalous resolution," said Sean Murray, 29, a member of a group called the Workers' Revolution. "It proves once more that the United Nations is a puppet of America, Britain and France and is not an institution that's there to serve the interests of the world's people."
The United Nations says its tough new resolution was needed because Iraq has reneged on previous international commitments to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.
Due to start at 1300 GMT, Saturday's march marks the culmination of the first European Social Forum, a four-day anti-globalisation gathering modelled on the World Social Forum that meets in Porto Alegre, Brazil each year.
The event has drawn tens of thousands of participants from dozens of countries stretching from Portugal to Russia, offering delegates the chance to join discussion groups on topics ranging from debt-reduction to support for the Palestinian uprising.
But the predominant theme has been virulent opposition to any U.S.-led war on Iraq, which activists fear will lead to devastation in Iraq and fuel the fires of terrorism.
"There are so many problems in the world. Hunger, thirst and disease. Rather than tackling these, the United States is making it worse by waging war," said Ramadan Sleiman, a Palestinian activist on the streets of Florence.
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