Injuries, arrests as thousands protest Bush

Two policemen were injured and three protesters arrested as thousands marched under tight security through Sydney, Australia on Sept. 8 in a protest against visiting President Bush and the Iraq War. The protest by more than 5,000 people was mostly peaceful during the curtailed walk after a longer route through the city was banned. "Two police officers have been injured and one of them will treated in hospital for his injuries," a police spokeswoman told AFP. "We have three people arrested." The organizers estimated that 10,000 people took part but police put the number at 5,000. The march was organized by a group called the Stop Bush Coalition, but some demonstrators also expressed their concerns over a range of other issues, including climate change. As the protesters marched, Bush and 20 other world leaders gathered at Sydney's iconic Opera House on the harbor, some 20 minutes walk away, for this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The leaders, including Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who is a close Bush ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao, did not catch even a glimpse of the protesters. The heads of government were protected by a three-mile long, three-meter high fence snaking through the city and 5,000 police and soldiers patrolling on land, sea and in the air. The security operation, the largest ever mounted in Australia, included overflights by air force jets, police on jet skis in Sydney's harbor and special laws aimed at cracking down on protesters near the summit. The protest was colorful, with people beating drums and blowing whistles while others were dressed as polar bears, kangaroos or Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. As they set off, they chanted: "Howard, Bush, USA, how many kids did you kill today?" "George Bush is a great evil -- he should get out of this country," said one of the protesters, former Guantánamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, who was released without charge in 2005. Deanna Adam, who attended the protest with her two children, India aged seven and Kyle, eight, told AFP: "We are here because we oppose the war in Iraq. It's costing too many lives. I have children and I am worried about their future." A large banner carried by a group of marchers read: "War criminals not welcome here - Bush go home." Half way through route the marchers staged a sit-down protest for about 20 minutes against the police ban on the longer route. Police had successfully applied for a court order that effectively allowed the protesters to march for only two city blocks. Police had blocked off roads with barricades of converted buses, which could also be used as holding cells for arrested demonstrators.