London, Jan. 29, IRNA — Hundreds of anti-war activists including the families of the British victims of the Iraq war have gathered in central London, calling for the trial of Tony Blair as a “war criminal”.
According to IRNA correspondents, protestors staged an angry demonstration outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre—where the former British prime minister is being grilled by the Iraq Inquiry Committee for his role in bringing Britain into the war in 2003.
Out of the fear of these protestors, Blair arrived early for his highly-anticipated appearance at the inquiry on Friday to avoid protesters, entering the inquiry venue by a cordoned-off rear entrance.
The protestors were carrying effigies of Blair and a symbolic black coffin to remind him of more than a million people killed during the Iraq war.
Protesters shouted slogans including “Jail Tony”, “Take Blair to the Hague” and “Blair Lied; Thousands Died”.
A heavy presence of police caused a stand-off between police officers and the organisers of the protest from the Stop the War Coalition who accused the Metropolitan Police of breaking agreements on where protesters would be allowed to stand.
The demonstrators were prevented from gathering on a grassed area outside the main entrance to the centre.
Police had erected two lines of barriers overnight, forcing the protestors to stand on the pavement meters away from the British Parliament.
Many of the demonstrators wore T-shirts bearing the slogan “Jail Tony” and took placards writing Blair’s crimes.
A number of other protestors also staged a symbolic court outside the centre, accusing the former British premier of telling “six lies” about the Iraq war which many legal experts now believe was “illegal”.
Blair’s lies include:
Lie 1 (quoting Blair as saying): Our purpose is disarmament. No one wants military conflict.
Lie 2 (quoting Blair as saying): At every stage we should seek to avoid war.
Lie 3 (quoting Blair as saying): We have a magnificent victory in Iraq.
Lie 4 (quoting Blair as saying): Saddam Hussein has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons which could be activated within 45 minutes.
Lie 5 (quoting Blair as saying): I continue to want to solve the issue of Iraq and weapons of mass destruction through the UN.
Lie 6 (quoting Blair as saying): I would never commit British troops to a war I thought was wrong or unnecessary.
Having read out Blair’s lies, the protestors took a model of Blair handcuffed to a symbolic prison nearby where he pleaded guilty for war crimes.
The Independent newspaper reported that Blair had been staying up into the early hours of Friday studying documents from the time of the war to prepare himself for his appearance.
More than 3,000 members of the public applied for one of 80 places to see Blair giving evidence live in the inquiry chamber– 40 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon.
The inquiry will finish this afternoon.