Los Angeles: More than 500 protestors have marched against the Iraq war in Los Angeles, holding up coffins draped with the US flag and led by veterans from various conflicts.

Police said at least 500 people, most of them young, marched down Hollywood Boulevard in the tourist district of the US city yesterday, carrying banners denouncing President George W Bush and calling for an end to the conflict.

The protest came ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20. A similar demonstration also took place yesterday in London, where organisers said tens of thousands of people gathered.

Vietnam war veteran Ron Kovic, whose book Born on the 4th of July was turned into a film with Tom Cruise, joined the Los Angeles march in his wheelchair, flanked by other injured veterans.

Shot and paralysed in Vietnam 40 years ago, he told AFP he felt "sorrow" and "anguish" for the Iraqi people and the US men and women fighting there "who are suffering, who are losing their arms and legs, who are being killed."

"But I feel more than anything, when I see what's going on in Iraq I feel determined, determined to fight with everything within us to stop this madness," he added.
Organisers hope 1,000 people, including several California lawmakers and actors, will gather for the final part of the march on Sunset Boulevard.

Meanwhile, US novelist and Iraq war critic Gore Vidal was due to address a separate rally in San Diego, local media reported.
Source : PTI