Members of the Coalition Against War-Malaysia will gather outside the United States embassy in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday to protest against the war in Iraq and the continued violence in the Middle East.

According to one of the organisers Latheefa Koya, the protest is a 'symbolic gathering' which will also call on the US government and its allied forces to immediately withdraw its troops from the land.

"In conjunction with the global day of action against the occupation of Iraq, citizens of the world in all major world cities will be holding demonstrations in protest," she said when contacted today.

With the protest's main slogan 'Free Iraq - Stop the War', the protestors will carry banners, placards and perform songs with musical instruments.

This will be the second time the local coalition, consisting of political parties and non-governmental organisations, gathers to protest the war. The first was in 2003.

"We would like to encourage people from all walks of life - who love peace - to come and join us," said Latheefa, adding that the group hopes that the police and the US embassy will not view the gathering as an unruly demonstration.

"The US ambassador has said recently that he supported the freedom of expression. We hope he meant it. We have every right to gather peacefully as it is provided for in the Malaysian constitution," she said.

When contacted, the coalition's secretariat revealed that they had received a call from a representative of the US embassy recently.

"They are aware of our protest. We know that the embassy will be closed on Sunday but our purpose of gathering in not to engage with the diplomats but to protest against the war and Iraq's continued occupation," said S Arutchelvan, another one of the organisers.

Iraqi election results

The protests is also aimed at the Malaysian government's indefinite stand on the occupation and Iraq's newly elected government.

Latheefa quoted a recent statement by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak which reflected his acceptance of Iraq's January election results .

"The irony of the results is that there is a big representation of Shiitie followers (minority) and the majority-followed Sunni and the Kurds posses a smaller representation," she said.

The Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Iraq's population, were brutally repressed under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

When asked how many were expected to attend the protest, the organisers said it was difficult to predict the numbers let alone provide an exact figure.

"Perhaps hundreds (or thousands) will show up, we hope. We are competing with numerous events on the day such as the Formula 1 race (in Sepang)," added Arutchelvan.

The coalition of over 50 outfits is made up of the four main opposition parties - DAP, PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

It also consists of student groups, youth organisations, human rights groups and community-building outfits.

The protests will begin at 10.30am and is expected to last for an hour and a half.

Among other groups protesting around the world, on March 19 and some on March 20, are the Porto Alegre World Social Forum (Brazil), the International Antiwar Assembly and Social Movements of London ESF and Stop the War Coalition (UK).