Blair's Appearance At Iraq Inquiry To Spark Mass Anti-War Protest

Blair’s appearance at Iraq inquiry to spark mass anti-war protest

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle7000698.ece

1/27/2010

Thousands of anti-war campaigners are preparing for Tony Blair’s appearance at the Iraq inquiry in what could be the biggest political demonstration since last year’s G20 protests.

Riot police will be on stand-by around the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, close to the Houses of Parliament, as the former Prime Minister faces more than five hours of questioning on Friday.

The day before, anti-war protesters will attempt to blockade an international conference organised by Gordon Brown on the future of Afghanistan at Lancaster House, Central London.

Political leaders from many of the 43 nations involved in the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan are expected to attend, including Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, and Ban Ki Moon, the United Nations Secretary-General.

However the focus of the week’s demonstrations is expected to be Mr Blair’s appearance before Sir John Chilcot’s committee. The Stop the War Coalition says that protesters are preparing to travel from across the country.

More than 3,000 people applied for 40 public places in the room where the former Prime Minister will be questioned by the five-member panel. The inquiry is allowing a further 1,400 people into a public viewing room to watch either the morning and afternoon sessions on giant screens.

The demonstration will be the biggest test for Scotland Yard since the G20 protest in April last year when protesters caused millions of pounds of damage in the City and member of the public died after a confrontation with officers from the Territorial Support Group.

Scotland Yard is preparing to use the controversial “kettling” tactic in which protesters are enclosed within police cordons for many hours.

Two parliamentary inquiries criticised Scotland Yard’s handling of the G20 protests, and some human rights lawyers claim kettling is unlawful. However senior officers say that it is the safest and most effective way of controlling large and volatile crowds in built-up areas.

The police operation will be overseen by a Gold Commander based at the Special Operations Room in Lambeth that will have live footage of the area immediately surrounding the QEII centre. Dozens of officers will be on duty outside the centre, with Territorial Support Group officers nearby with their full riot equipment.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “On Friday we are going to be working very closely with the security staff at the QEII centre to allow everyone who needs to get in and out to do so and to facilitate the protest as best we can.”

Lindsey German, co-ordinator of the Stop the War Coalition, said: “We are calling on everyone who opposes Britain’s foreign wars to do their best to be there. We know people are coming from all corners of the country. The verdict on Blair will affect present and future wars.”

Relatives of some of the 179 British servicemen and woman who died in Iraq will join the demonstration, including Rose Gentle, who failed to get a ticket in a ballot for places in the inquiry room.

Mr Blair’s appearance could be the last chance for a major demonstration against the invasion and six-year occupation of Iraq. An anti-war march in February 2003, a month before the invasion, was described by police as the UK’s biggest demonstration with at least 750,000 taking part; organisers put the figure closer to two million.