Huge anti-war rallies

last updated 8 January 2015

Damascus

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians marched through the streets of Damascus this week, chanting, “We sacrifice our souls and blood for Iraq.” Protesters burned U.S. and British flags and called President Bush “a pig.” The angry rally was sparked by the U.S.’s bombing of a bus in Iraq that was carrying Syrian workers home. Five of the workers were killed. The U.S. said the bombing was a mistake. Protesters also gathered in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, where 30,000 filled the streets, and in Cairo, where 20,000 denounced U.S. and British aggression, and criticized Arab governments for failing to stop the war.