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.

The multi-racial participants shouted anti-war slogans and carried colorful banners with messages like "Hey George, I don't mind if you do this with your Sony playstation".

They were accompanied by street musicians and independent student groups.

About 40 Light Strike Force personnel wearing headgears, carrying batons, shields and armed with tear gas launchers, stood guard while police attempted to abort the gathering at 11.15am o­n the ground that it was causing a traffic jam along Jalan Tun Razak.

Order at 12 noon

However, after several minutes of negotiation with NGO officials, police permitted the protesters to relocate their position o­n the opposite side of the road.

At 12 noon, Kuala Lumpur Chief Police Officer Dell Akbar Khan ordered the crowd to disperse and the group marched to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre to continue their protest, accompanied by the LSF.

Asked to comment on the number of protesters present, Dell responded with a question asking "Why do you need to know the police version of the number of people?".

He later told reporters outside KLCC that police allowed the protest as it was a "global movement" to oppose war against Iraq.

"But I am disappointed. They said they would o­nly protest outside the US embassy but they carried o­n until here (at KLCC)," he said.

In solidarity

Meanwhile, outside the embassy building, Parti Sosialis Malaysia pro-tem committee president Dr Mohd Nasir Mohd Hashim, speaking o­n behalf of the Coalition Against The War Malaysia, said the group called for 'No war o­n Iraq', with or without the United Nation's support.

"War o­n Iraq will bring death to innocent Iraqis and wreak even greater havoc o­n a civilian population already devastated by a decade of sanctions," he said.

"We stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq, recognising that war and aggression against Iraq is part of a US project of global domination and subjugation," he added.

Joining the protest were Keadilan and PRM, who in a joint statement, questioned US' double standards in handling 'violent' regimes in the world.

" We oppose all regimes that are cruel, repressive and dictatorial. This does not exclude the o­ne in Iraq. But there should not exist double standards in handling such regimes," said PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali.

"We wish to emphasise that the decision and action to remove a cruel and unjust leader or regime should be made by the people themselves, and not by any self-righteous foreign leader or regime, acting merely o­n the basis of might is right," he added.

Bush condemned

DAP Socialist Youth national secretary Loke Siew Fook, in a press statement, said that the wing condemned the Bush Administration for their unilateral action of continuosly pushing the button towards war in Iraq.

"The US has not o­nly failed to capture Osama bin Laden but had sown the seeds of terrorism and made American interests more vulnerable throughout the world," he added.

Human Rights Association secretary general Elizabeth Wong said the protest was a sign of unity among Malaysians.

However, she added that the gathering was not just to reclaim the right to peace but also the reclaim the right to freedom of assembly in Malaysia.

The crowd started to disperse after the stop at the KLCC at about 1.30pm.