posted 03-20-2004 06:01 PM            

CBC Online

LONDON - Millions of people took to the streets around the world on Saturday to denounce the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.

The protests marked the first anniversary of the U.S.-led war aimed at toppling Saddam Hussein's regime.

A million people streamed through Rome in the single biggest protest so far.

In London, two Greenpeace activists scaled the Big Ben clocktower to hang a banner that read "Time for Truth."

A protester blows a whistle and holds a banner during an anti-war demonstration in Glasgow, Scotland (AP photo)

"The British people are fed up with the half-truths and evasions on Iraq," said protest organizer Stephen Tindale who joined 25,000 demonstrators in central London.

Around 10,000 people hit the streets of Athens and marched toward the U.S. Embassy.

Tens of thousands voiced opposition to President George Bush in New York city.

"It doesn't make sense to bomb countries that have nothing to do with Sept. 11," said protestor Reeves Hamilton.

Invasion caused more terrorism

In the Australian city of Brisbane, protesters unfurled a banner: "We still say no to war."

"The world is less safe now than it was a year ago," said Annette Brownlie, one of the demonstrators.

More than 120,000 people turned out across Japan to protest their government's involvement. The country sent 1,000 military personnel to Iraq, the largest foreign deployment since the Second World War.

Other rallies were held across Asia, Europe and North America.

"Bush's invasion of Iraq has incited more terrorism," said Lau San-ching as he marched to the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong.

Protestors in Manila clashed with riot police as they tried to push their way to the U.S. Embassy. Demonstrators threw stones at security, who responded with water cannons.

Protesters in about a dozen cities in Spain commemorated the day.

"The government took the country to war, but it was ordinary people who got hurt and killed by the terrorists," said film producer Lila Pla Alemany in Barcelona, Spain's second city. Alemany is referring to the country's 1,300 troops stationed in Iraq. Spain's new president has pledged to bring the troops back.

Protestors are also holding memorials for the 202 victims of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid. The bombings are believed to be connected to al-Qaeda.

At a rally in Florida, Bush declared Iraq an "essential victory" in the war on terror.

He said the mission in Iraq "will make us all safer."