Two Nobel Peace prize winners were among the 60 others arrested by the Washington police for protesting opposite the White House against the US-led war in Iraq, which is entering into the second week now.

The Nobel laureates 1976 winner for peace activism in Northern Ireland Mairead Corrigan Maguire and 1997 winner for works o­n banning land mines Jody Williams were handcuffed and taken away for refusing to leave the protest area.

According to a Reuters report, the duo were detained as they sat in a circle in the park opposite the White House and chanted "Peace, shalom".

"They held roses as well as gruesome posters showing civilian casualties from the war," added the report.

"In Northern Ireland we were encouraged to resolve our problems with dialogue and I would like to see that happen here," added Maguire.

Williams ( left ) hugged Maguire ( with poster ) before they were both handcuffed and loaded into a police van.

The report quoted a police spokesperson as saying that nine people had been arrested for crossing a police line opposite the White House and that the rest were held for protesting without a permit.

Violent protests

Similar anti-war protests also took place around the globe today, with demonstrators in Australia and Spain America's closest allies in the war against Iraq turning violent.

Protestors in France defaced a pre-eminent American symbol: a replica of the Statue of Liberty.

According to a New York Times report, some of the largest rallies and bitterest clashes have come in Australia and Spain, though the recent number of protesters has not matched the turnouts just before or immediately after the outbreak of war.

The report said that a protest in Sydney left three police officers injured and more than 60 protesters under arrest.

"Demonstrators hurled chairs at police and pelted them with golf balls during what was described as a pitched battle. Protests halted traffic in other Australian cities, including Perth, where about 500 students hurled paint and tomatoes at the United States Consulate General, and a dozen were arrested," said the report.

King under criticism

And in Spain, more than 10,000 students demonstrated against the war in Madrid, at the central Puerta del Sol, with even the monarch King Juan Carlos I, becoming a target, criticising him for his passive support of the war.

Clashes were also reported in Barcelona where an estimated 300 demonstrators tossed bottles, garbage and eggs at an official of the governing party.

Elsewhere in France, vandals in the city of Bordeaux poured gasoline and paint today over a replica of the Statue of Liberty.

The New York Times also reported of anti-war protests in several Middle Eastern countries.

Sold for a dollar

"In Jordan, where King Abdullah II has permitted American, British and Australian troops reported to be mainly special forces to operate from the eastern border region with Iraq, protesters chanted, 'Shame, shame, they sold Ruweished,' a border town, 'for a dollar'."

In Palestine, several hundred writers, journalists and intellectuals were reported to have marched through Gaza City to protest the war and call o­n Arab leaders to speak out forcefully against the invasion of Iraq.

The daily also reported of demonstrations in several Pakistani cities, in Srinagar, India as well as in Chad where the police used tear gas to disperse more than 100 students from Islamic schools.

And in southern city of Songkhla, Thailand, more than 20,000 Muslims rallied peacefully in the largest anti-war protest in the kingdom.

Whipping up a din

Meanwhile BBC reported that a large demonstration is expected to take place later today in London where students are planning a rally in Westminster before they march to the US embassy.

A lunchtime vigil is also planned and about 100 women are expected to take part in what organisers are describing as an "Argentinean style saucepan banging anti war demonstration".

BBC quoted Marion Chester, a human rights lawyer, who called the demonstration as saying, "We are encouraging women to bring saucepans, wooden spoons and other cooking utensils to the gates of Downing Street to whip up a din for the man who dares to bomb in our names.

Anti-war rally is also expected in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.