Anti-Bush Protests Abroad

Iraq:

BAGHDAD – Chanting "no to America," supporters of a radical Shiite cleric burned an effigy of President George W. Bush Friday in a protest demanding parliament scuttle a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and American troops begin withdrawing from Iraq immediately.

The demonstration drew nearly 20,000 followers of Muqtada al-Sadr to Firdous Square, the same spot where U.S. Marines toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein and exultant Iraqis pummeled it with debris in what became an iconic image of the fall of Baghdad and the end of the dictator's 23-year rule.

Peru:

PROTESTERS have demanded that US President George W Bush get out of Peru where he is attending an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, blaming him for the world economic crisis.

"Bush out," about 1000 demonstrators chanted in the center of the capital Lima, watched by scores of police in riot gear who made sure they did not move towards the APEC summit venue several kilometers away.

"This crisis didn't come from the Peruvian people. We shouldn't have to pay for it," a union leader told the crowd, which demonstrated peacefully.

Mr Bush, one of 21 leaders of Asia-Pacific economies converging on Lima for the weekend summit, arrived shortly after the protest. He was escorted under tight US Secret Service and Peruvian police security from Lima airport to the army headquarters building housing the APEC meetings.

Friday's anti-Bush protest, organized by Peru's biggest labor union, charged that Mr Bush's decision to wage a costly war in Iraq contributed to the financial and economic crises.

"The International Criminal Court should try him for crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression," a big banner next to the main stage for the rally proclaimed.

"Bush - genocide. The Peruvians repudiate your crimes," said another.

"We believe that Bush is responsible for the fall of the financial system," explained Aldo Gil Cristostomo, a 54-year-old mechanic standing near other protesters carrying portraits of Che Guevara.

"The war in Iraq is partly responsible for the fall," he said.