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CNN Live Today
Protests in London Carry on Peacefully
Aired November 20, 2003 - 10:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed Iraq and trade as well at Ten Downing Street in London today. In fact, half a dozen blocks away protesters are gathering at the famous Trafalgar Square where protesters are going to be demonstrating against President Bush's Iraq policy.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour is standing by there with the very latest. Good morning -- good evening to you there, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good afternoon from here. And listening to John Zarrella's report, just like to say that, of course, here the police were worried that some kinds of violent groups, indeed, those anti-globalization protesters may hijack the protest directed against President Bush here these last two days.
But, of course they haven't done that. This has been an incredibly peaceful demonstration. You can see right now live pictures of many thousands of demonstrators who are being permitted to walk in a long, long line as far as the eye can see down Whitehall which is the center of British government and civil service. And they're going to end up here in Trafalgar Square.
There are already several thousand people in Trafalgar Square who have been gathering over the last couple of hours. There is an effigy of President Bush that they plan to topple in a symbolic gesture in a couple of hours from now.
But again to say that these protests have been designed to be really poking fun, more light-hearted, not violent, they've been peaceful. There is a lot of -- there are a lot of placards which are waving signs disagreeing with President Bush's foreign policy. But there has been no significant violence. And even though there have been some arrests from the last couple of days, most of those, in fact all of those have been for minor infractions.
So what's happening is that this is the culmination of two days of protests. British here, who oppose President Bush's Iraq policy and his foreign policy in general, have come out on to the streets. It has been organized by the so-called Stop the War Coalition, who, if you remember, brought out about a million people on to the streets before the Iraq war.
Today, they hope to bring about 100,000. We can't confirm the exact numbers, but we can say that there are many, many thousands as far as the eye can see who are making this long route on foot toward the traditional gathering place for protesters here, and that is in Trafalgar Square, not far from where President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have been meeting.
Of course, a lot of what's happening here today in this rather controversial visit by the U.S. president to Britain has been somewhat overshadowed, as you can imagine, by the tragic events in Turkey. The terrorism that has claimed at least 26 lives, according to latest reports, and has caused more than 450 injuries.
Both Prime Minister Blair and President Bush reacted to that today in speeches and comments at Downing Street. Both of them saying that they would not be cowards, they would not retreat in the face of this continued terrorism. And that they would continue their war on terrorism -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Christiane Amanpour, standing by in Trafalgar Square where we are expecting to see a burning in effigy of President Bush, mimicking the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad at the end of the war.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 20, 2003 - 10:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed Iraq and trade as well at Ten Downing Street in London today. In fact, half a dozen blocks away protesters are gathering at the famous Trafalgar Square where protesters are going to be demonstrating against President Bush's Iraq policy.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour is standing by there with the very latest. Good morning -- good evening to you there, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good afternoon from here. And listening to John Zarrella's report, just like to say that, of course, here the police were worried that some kinds of violent groups, indeed, those anti-globalization protesters may hijack the protest directed against President Bush here these last two days.
But, of course they haven't done that. This has been an incredibly peaceful demonstration. You can see right now live pictures of many thousands of demonstrators who are being permitted to walk in a long, long line as far as the eye can see down Whitehall which is the center of British government and civil service. And they're going to end up here in Trafalgar Square.
There are already several thousand people in Trafalgar Square who have been gathering over the last couple of hours. There is an effigy of President Bush that they plan to topple in a symbolic gesture in a couple of hours from now.
But again to say that these protests have been designed to be really poking fun, more light-hearted, not violent, they've been peaceful. There is a lot of -- there are a lot of placards which are waving signs disagreeing with President Bush's foreign policy. But there has been no significant violence. And even though there have been some arrests from the last couple of days, most of those, in fact all of those have been for minor infractions.
So what's happening is that this is the culmination of two days of protests. British here, who oppose President Bush's Iraq policy and his foreign policy in general, have come out on to the streets. It has been organized by the so-called Stop the War Coalition, who, if you remember, brought out about a million people on to the streets before the Iraq war.
Today, they hope to bring about 100,000. We can't confirm the exact numbers, but we can say that there are many, many thousands as far as the eye can see who are making this long route on foot toward the traditional gathering place for protesters here, and that is in Trafalgar Square, not far from where President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have been meeting.
Of course, a lot of what's happening here today in this rather controversial visit by the U.S. president to Britain has been somewhat overshadowed, as you can imagine, by the tragic events in Turkey. The terrorism that has claimed at least 26 lives, according to latest reports, and has caused more than 450 injuries.
Both Prime Minister Blair and President Bush reacted to that today in speeches and comments at Downing Street. Both of them saying that they would not be cowards, they would not retreat in the face of this continued terrorism. And that they would continue their war on terrorism -- Carol.
LIN: All right, thank you very much, Christiane Amanpour, standing by in Trafalgar Square where we are expecting to see a burning in effigy of President Bush, mimicking the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad at the end of the war.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
