Scuffles erupt at anti-Bush demos in London

UK: Scuffles broke out Sunday between police and demonstrators protesting against a visit by US President George W. Bush, police and an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Twenty-five people were arrested in Parliament Square — yards from where Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown were meeting in Downing Street — although the situation later returned to a tense calm, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said.

Baton-wielding officers drove forward when protesters from a 2,000-plus strong rally in Parliament Square, which was closed to traffic, tried to breach police barriers blocking the entrance to Whitehall, the main government thoroughfare which intersects with Downing Street.

Scotland Yard condemned the unrest, which erupted shortly after Bush arrived in Downing Street in a motorcade with his wife Laura, on his last-but-one stop on a European farewell tour.

“The acts that we have witnessed today are deplorable and cannot be described as lawful demonstration,” said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison after the demo which gathered between 2,000-2,500 people at its height.

“We are seriously disappointed by the irresponsible and criminal action of those who have challenged police, physically ripping apart security barriers with the sole aim of breaching security in Whitehall.”

Police on horseback and vans were also deployed to bring the situation under control, as protesters hurled abuse at officers.

Earlier in the day, the demonstration had been overwhelmingly peaceful, with demonstrators outnumbered by some 1,200 police until shortly before Bush arrived when the crowds swelled.

After the scuffles the crowds thinned out, leaving two groups of some 200 people penned in by lines of black-clad riot police around the Square, the AFP correspondent said.

The rally was organised by the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the British Muslim Initiative.

“George Bush is on his way out,” said Paula Mitchell of the Socialist Workers Party, which is part of the coalition. “He as an individual is not that significant but it’s what he represents,” she added.

“Whoever replaces him in the US is going to carry on with the same policy. They’re preparing to install themselves in Iraq semi-permanently. It’s turning Iraq into a colony while thousands of people continue to die.”

London, Monday, AFP