Two main agencies covered Saturday’s the demonstration, Associated Press and Press Association.
Associated Press titles “Protesters reject Blair’s Iraq troop withdrawal plan as too little too late”. It continues: “Anti-war protesters converged on London Saturday to call on Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw all of Britain’s troops from Iraq and voice fears over a potential conflict with Iran. A few thousand people joined the march through the rainy capital, according to initial police counts. That was far fewer than the numbers predicted by organizers, who hoped to top the several hundred thousand people who turned out for a 2004 London rally to contest Britain’s role in the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.”
Press Association puts different numbers: “The Stop The War coalition, who organised the demo along with CND and the British Muslim Initiative, estimated up to 100,000 people were taking part in the London event. But the Metropolitan Police said their latest figures put the number at 2,000-3,000.”
British and American media gave then different figures of what happened. In UK, the only national newspaper to publish the news have been The Independent, Express on Sunday, The Guardian Unlimited. The last two have used the Press Association report, where the Independent had an original piece by Arifa Akbar (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2300438.ece).
BBC News correspondent Barnie Choudhury wrote on BBC.co.uk: “Among those who had spent hours travelling by coach to get to London there was a passionate belief that what they were doing was right. They wanted to get their message to Britain’s top politicians.
The Scottland on Sunday reports on the Glasgow demonstration, linked to the on in London: “The event, tied in with an anti-war and anti-nuclear rally in London’s Trafalgar Square, came as a poll found 76 per cent of Scots would rather see money for Trident spent on public services.”
The news, nonetheless, went far. China’s CCTV writes: “War is not the answer. So said thousands of protesters in central London, calling for all British troops to be pulled out of Iraq.” Fair enough.
