About 2,000 people gathered outside the United States embassy in Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur this morning to protest against the impending war o­n Iraq. Yesterday's stern warning from the police did not deter the anti-war protesters from holding the peaceful demonstration.

Yesterday, Kuala Lumpur CID Chief Kamaruddin Mat Desa said police had not issued a permit for any group or political party for the gathering slated for 11am.

He urged the organisers to call off the gathering as the embassy would be closed today. The police, he explained, also has to focus o­n the dry run o­n traffic management in conjunction with the forthcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit

However, the police seemed to tolerate the peaceful gathering after an earlier attempt to abort it failed.

The assembly, organised by non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties, was held in solidarity with some 300 cities world wide.