Anti-war protesters at home, across the world won't give up

Tens of thousands of people marched in cities around the world or demonstrated outside U.S. military bases Saturday, but the demonstrations were far smaller than recent protests.

"Bush, murderer," chanted protesters in Paris, while demonstrators in Finland roared: "George Bush, CIA, how many kids did you kill today?"

Organizers said they had little time to plan the protests, and there was little sign of people responding to calls to pour into the streets or responding spontaneously to the start of war.

In the African nation of Sudan, anti-riot police shot dead a 19-year-old university student during a protest in the capital, Khartoum.

There was a sense of frustration among marchers in London. The turnout was much lower than last month's mass rally, which drew at least 750,000 people. Police estimated turnout Saturday at less than 100,000, while organizers claimed 150,000.

'Death of democracy'

The biggest protests Saturday were in Europe, with dozens of demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people in countries including Britain, France, Germany, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Other protests took place in the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, in Oslo, Norway, and in the French cities of Paris, Strasbourg and Lyon.

Police said 30,000 people marched in Bern, Switzerland. In Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, police said about 25,000 marched against the war.

In Berlin, about 40,000 protested.

Protesters also gathered outside U.S. military bases in Europe. About 5,000 people protested at an air base in Fairford, England, laying flowers at the main gate for "the death of democracy."

Protests continued for a second day in the Middle East after violent anti-American clashes the day before.

Riot police used tear gas against some 200 high-school students who threw stones near the U.S. embassy in Bahrain. Hundreds of riot police watched as about 5,000 students gathered at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

"Oh Arab army! Where are you?" the Cairo students chanted, calling on Arab nations to send troops to support Iraq.

In some nations, protests singled out Britain and Australia, the only nations fighting with U.S. forces. Italian police used tear gas to break up protesters who tossed paint at the British consulate in Venice and 4,000 people marched to the Australian embassy in New Zealand.

Denouncing the Australian prime minister, they chanted, "John Howard, You can't hide, we charge you with genocide."

American rallies

Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators, spanning 30 blocks, marched down Broadway on Saturday as part of a fresh round of cross-country protest against war on Iraq. Military backers also showed their support with flags and "USA" chants.

In Chicago, some of about 800 troop supporters came within 20 feet of a small group of anti-war activists outside a federal building. As the protesters shouted, "killers, killers, killers," a military backer yelled back, "idiots, idiots, idiots." Later, about 500 anti-war protesters marched around the same building.

Carrying peace signs and wearing costumes, demonstrators in New York streamed toward Washington Square Park. Unofficial police estimates put the crowd at 120,000 or more.

Some celebrities joined in, including actors Roy Scheider, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and singer Patti Smith.

Thousands protested in San Francisco after two days of anti-war rallies in which about 2,200 were arrested.

Other protests were held in Hollywood, Washington, Reno, Nev., Lansing, Mich., and Louisville, Ky.,

Mostly smaller counterdemonstrations have sprung up too, appealing for support of the invasion or U.S. troops.

Nearly all protests have been peaceful, though scuffling with police broke out on a few occasions. More than 3,000 arrests have been made, usually as police tried to clear streets and keep buildings open.