Anti-war protests staged in Argentina, Chile, Brazil

Thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets in Argentina, Chile and Brazil on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of the US-led Iraq war and to demand the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.

In Argentina, protests organized by civil groups and political parties demanded the withdrawal of US troops from the Arab country.

Nearly 10,000 people gathered around the Buenos Aires Obelisk, where a document was issued to proclaim "the right to the self-determination of Iraq."

"Nothing has stopped the resistance of the Iraqi people, whose heroic attitude moves and renews the anti-imperialistic sentiment of the peoples of the world," said the document presented by the coalition of demonstration organizers.

The demonstrators also vented their anger at US President George W. Bush, voicing their opposition against his presence at the Summit of the Americas, scheduled for November at Mar del Plata, Argentina.

In Chile, more than 3,000 people marched toward the US Embassy in Santiago to protest against the military intervention of the United States in Iraq, local news agency Orbe reported.

Outside the embassy, the organizers read an anti-war letter in which they requested the United States to end the military intervention of Iraq.

The demonstrators also urged the Chilean government take a firmer position with respect to the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.

Guillermo Tellier, secretary general of the Communist Party, asked "the United States to leave the wealth of petroleum in the hands of the Iraqi people, and not with the transnational firms."

Meanwhile, about 1,000 people took to the streets of Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, waving anti-US banners and singing anti-war songs.

In the capital of Brasilia, dozens of protesters burned an American flag in front of the US embassy, the official Agencia Brasil news service reported.