Amid the heavy beat of African drums and rock music, protesters danced, chanted slogans in Sydney's Hyde Park Saturday, trying utmost to have their voice heard by the APEC economic leaders who were meanwhile gathering in Sydney Opera House nearby.
"No bloody war in Iraq" and "Stop Bush", the protesters chanted hodgepodge of slogans, from the Iraq war to global warming and workers rights.
This was the largest protest since the annual APEC Leaders Week started in the largest city of Australia from Sept. 2.
With heavy police presence, about 3,000 people marched from Sydney's Town Hall to Hyde Park. There were no signs of widespread violence despite reports saying that three protesters were arrested and one policeman hospitalized with head injuries.
In Hyde Park, the protest looked more like a carnival, as many demonstrators, wearing bizarre costumes and dyed hairs, hit African drums, danced and sang, attracting crowds of onlookers, some of them toddlers.
"We are against nuclear energy, it's dangerous," said Charlotte Buckton, a teenage girl protester, wearing a surgery mask with a nuclear logo on it.
"I wear the mask, because we don't have voice on the issue," she said.
Various interest groups are handing out leaflets and selling badges, with the majority of the signs on display carrying slogans critical of U.S. President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.
"I want Bush out of this country," said Leonard Colton, a 45- year- old nurse.
He said the Australian government is conducting a wrong policy to be allied with "powerful evil countries" like the United States.
Colton, a veteran U.S. army medic having served the Iraq War in 1989, said he immigrated to Australia 12 years ago for the resentment over "the war-junkie U.S."
"The aim of our protest is to demonstrate our opposition to the war in Iraq, our concern about climate change and workers rights in the APEC region," said Alex Bainbridge, spokesman of the Stop Bush Coalition.
"I think we are successful today because more people turn up than expected and we have attracted much media attention," he said.
The economic leaders from APEC's 21 member economies are discussing a wide range of issues in their meetings Saturday and Sunday, and they are expected to endorse statement and declaration on climate change and free trade.
Source: Xinhua
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