Two killed in anti-war protests

Two killed in anti-war protests

Riot police used water cannons to disperse protesters in Cairo

At least two people - including a policeman - have been killed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, at an anti-war march as protests against the conflict in Iraq continue in many countries.

In the Egyptian capital, Cairo, riot police used water cannon to disperse thousands of anti-war protesters at the historic al-Azhar mosque in a second day of demonstrations.

Protests have also been taking place in Asia and Europe, which follow huge protests across the world on Thursday, with violence in several countries.

Many more rallies are expected to take place over the weekend.

Call for support

In Yemen, more than 10,000 demonstrators gathered at several mosques around Sanaa and then marched towards the US embassy, shouting anti-American slogans.

VIEWS FROM JORDAN

"This war, it's like throwing food into the sea. It's a waste."
Muhammad, Amman

In pictures

An 11-year-old Yemeni boy is reported to have been killed in a shootout between police and protesters, after riot police used tear gas and fired at crowds of demonstrators, according to security sources quoted by the Reuters news agency.

Clashes also took place in the Jordanian city of Ma'an, although the police are reported to have pulled back in an attempt to restore calm.

In Egypt, crowds of protesters who gathered in al-Azhar's interior courtyard chanted slogans expressing their solidarity with Iraq.

Earlier, the leading Islamic cleric, Sheikh Sayyid Tantawi, had urged them to stand, as he put it, by the side of the persecuted.

Arrests

In Europe the largest demonstration was in Greece, where more than 150,000 people marched through the capital, Athens.

In South Asia, Indian-administered Kashmir and Bangladesh saw the largest protests.

In Pakistan, there has been a mixed response to a nationwide strike call by an alliance of six Islamist parties to protest against the US-led attack on Iraq.

Thousands marched in San Francisco

Shops were shut in the city of Quetta, but in other cities across the country the call was largely ignored.

Thousands of people across Australia and east Asia - including Japan, South Korea and Malaysia - took part in anti-war rallies.

In Australia, which has contributed troops to the US effort, protesters blocked roads in the country's second largest city, Melbourne, and chanted slogans against American policy.

In Japan, 8,000 people according to police - and 50,000 according to organisers - snaked through Tokyo demanding an early end to the war, with demonstrators urging people to boycott American products.

Smaller protests were reported in South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and China.

VIEWS FROM LOS ANGELES

I've never been more disgusted or ashamed to be an American.
Stephen Suess

In pictures

Earlier in the US, police in San Francisco arrested some 1,000 people during violence at an anti-war demonstration.

Protesters blocked streets leading from the city's Oakland Bay Bridge, while small groups of people clashed with police and threw debris.

Tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations across the US.