------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 16, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
ANTI-WAR PROTESTS AROUND THE GLOBE By John Catalinotto On Jan. 3 Pakistanis demonstrated across the country in the tens of thousands in solidarity with Iraq, especially in the northwestern region near Afghanistan where there have been recent clashes involving U.S. troops. The Pakistani government, led by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has also reinforced its troops near the border town of Angoor Adda, and ordered the temporary closing of stores and markets, according to the Pakistani newspaper The News. Musharraf conferred by telephone with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell after the incidents involving the U.S. troops. The demonstrators, organized by anti-U.S. religious parties, chanted, "Down with America" and, "The Iraqis are our brothers." About 10,000 protested in Peshawar, where the crowd burned a U.S. flag and an effigy of Bush. Crowds ranged from hundreds to thousands in other cities. Although Pakistan was the main backer of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the Musharraf regime turned against its prot�g�s soon after Sept. 11, 2001, and lined up with the Bush administration's so-called war on terror. He is increasingly seen-by both the Pakistani elite and the masses-as a tool of U.S. imperialism. While Musharraf is apparently still in control, Oct. 10 elections in the northwest part of the country resulted in victories for fundamentalist parties that are hostile to U.S. domination of the region. There is also a secular and pro-socialist opposition to Musharraf and to U.S. imperialism, which held anti-U.S. demonstrations last year in conjunction with anti-imperialist groups in India. Maulana Azam Tariq, whose group Sipah-e-Sahaba is called "pro-Taliban," was elected to parliament from jail. A court recently ordered him released. On Nov. 19 the newly elected representatives held a prayer session in parliament for Aimal Kasi, a Pakistani executed in Virginia Nov. 14 for the 1993 murder of two CIA workers. U.S. TROOPS IN FIREFIGHTS The demonstrations followed firefights between U.S. forces from occupied Afghanistan and opponents on or over the Pakistan border. There have been contradictory stories from the region regarding whether the opposition was from Pakistani border guards or an Afghani resistance. A U.S. soldier received a head wound, and his unit called in a bombing raid. A 500-pound bomb dropped in the region destroyed a religious school. Another U.S. soldier had been shot in the region just before Dec. 25. After these fights, Maj. Stephen Clutter from the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan explained that U.S. commandos would not let the Pakistan border stop their pursuit of enemies. This was apparently the reason for the discussion between Musharraf and Bush and Powell. Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the U.S. troops had no permission or right to cross the border. In a global opinion poll run by the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of Pakistanis said they had a negative view of the United States. Only 10 percent had a positive one. Fifty-two percent of Pakistanis had a positive opinion of Saddam Hussein. Turkey's population has a similar hostile opinion about U.S. plans to invade Iraq. Despite heavy pressure from Washington, the Turkish parliament is expected to refuse a massive deployment of U.S. troops in the country. Turkey borders Iraq; having troops there allows the United States to open a second front during an invasion. Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told the Hurriyet newspaper: "The likelihood of our public and of the parliament which represents that public to say 'yes' to such a decision is very remote. Public opinion in Turkey is not ready for a solution in which tens of thousands of soldiers would be deployed in or pass through Turkey." In another U.S. ally, the small island country of Bahrain, hundreds took to the streets for a second straight week on Jan. 3 to show solidarity with Iraqis. "Iraq will be but the first step in a scheme ushering in U.S. occupation of the whole Persian Gulf region and control of its resources ... through the overthrow of some regimes," said Hassan al- Aali, a protest organizer. EUROPE, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA At the U.S. Air Force's Mildenhall base in Britain on Jan. 5, some 15 people from various Earth First organizations across England climbed over the barbed wire surrounding the base and sliced through the perimeter fence, using wire-cutters. They were arrested. They organized the protest to voice opposition to the impending war against Iraq, they said. "USAF Mildenhall is a major military base, which we believe will be used to transport equipment for use in a war against Iraq," said Mandy Jones from Earth First. In Western Australia, the presence of the U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and cruiser Shiloh, preparing for the attack on Iraq, provided the occasion for a protest demonstration. Some 6,000 sailors work on the ships. Fremantle Anti-Nuclear Group spokesperson Scott Ludlam said the group would protest for a second time. The first was when the battle group arrived Dec. 22. "It wasn't about a possible terrorist strike here but that the ship would soon target Iraqi civilians in a war. They can expect this time to be bigger and better because we are not going away," Ludlam said. In Dublin, anti-war protesters hit the streets Dec. 31 to protest the Irish government's failure to condemn U.S./British threats of war on Iraq. (Irish Voice) On Jan. 5, South African human-rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu added his voice to the anti-war movement, telling television interviewer Jonathan Dimbleby of ITV that he was "shocked" to see Britain "aiding and abetting" the United States in its action against Iraq. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
