Some 300 anti-war protestors today gathered outside the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur this morning to demonstrate against the invasion of Iraq by the US-led forces four years ago.

The protest, organised by the Malaysian Anti-War Coalition, started at about 10am and continued for close to two hours under the watchful eyes of riot police. There were no reported untoward incidents.

Under the hot sun, the gathered crowd, armed with banners and posters, urged the US to immediately withdraw it troops from the trouble-torn Iraq.

Some of the protesters held up posters and banners reading "Bush A Cruel Killer," "Bush Get Out Of Iraq". Some shouted: "George Bush, terrorist."

"Four years of occupation of Iraq by the US has caused the people of Iraq to live in miseries and sufferings," said the protest organisers.

"Over 650,000 people have died as the outcome of US occupation in Iraq. Four years is enough!," they urged to the chorus of support from the gathered crowd.

'This is jihad'

A protester, Sofian Putra, a 44-year-old businessman, warned the United States that Muslims worldwide would punish the country for what had happened in Iraq.

"We have to fight back. This is jihad. The US army has killed many Muslim children. We will kill the US soldiers. We have to do it to chase the US troops out of Iraq.

"I am here to protest against the four-year US occupation of Iraq. I want the US to leave Iraq. Their occupation has led to many Muslims being killed," he told AFP .

The organisers also want Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to be strong in urging Washington to withdraw from Iraq.

"Besides military intervention, the US is also trying to colonise countries using its economic power and today Malaysia face the threat of signing the FTA agreement with the US," said the organisers in a statement in the run up to the protest.

Stop the imperialist attitude

The organisers also urged the government to reveal the full details pertaining to the FTA talks.

K Simon, coordinator with the non-governmental Coalition of Marginalised People, was quoted by the AFP as saying that the United States must end its "imperialist" attitude.

"We oppose the US occupation of Iraq. Now the US is trying to colonise Malaysia with the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA). A free trade deal with the US will harm our farmers and traders," he said.

The two countries have held five rounds of free-trade talks but negotiations have bogged down over dozens of unresolved issues, and no further rounds have been scheduled so far.

The anti-war protest in Kuala Lumpur this morning was part of a global protest movement to oppose the continued invasion of Iraq.

It was one of two demonstrations slated for today. The second - an anti-toll hike demonstration will take place outside the Summit USJ shopping mall in Subang Jaya at 4pm.

(Protest photos by Bede Hong)

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