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Thousands of Londoners protest UK’s proposed airstrikes in Syria

Tuesday, 01 December 2015 11:30 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 December 2015 12:06 AM ]

A protester holding a placard is seen during a demonstration against British military action in Syria outside the Houses of Parliament in London on December 1, 2015. (AFP)

Thousands of anti-war protesters have taken to the streets in London to protest proposed plans to bomb Daesh Takfiri targets in Syria.

On Tuesday evening, some 4,000 demonstrators marched from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster to the headquarters of the ruling Conservative party and main opposition Labour party, on the eve of a parliamentary vote on whether the UK should extend its airstrikes from Iraq into Syria.

"We're here to say one simple thing, don't bomb Syria,” said Lindsey German, a founding member of the Stop the War Coalition protest movement, while addressing the marchers.

"Don't go and bomb a country where we make the war even worse," she noted.

“Don't do what you did in 2001, 2003 and 2011," she said, referring to the UK’s involvement in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

On Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a one-day debate would be held in parliament on Wednesday to decide if Britain should extend current air campaign as part of a US-led coalition against purported Takfiri positions in Iraq.

*A lone protester opposed to British military action in Syria holds a placard reading 'Don't be daft, Dave!' outside the Houses of Parliament in London on December 1, 2015. (AFP)*

Cameron is adamant that bombing Syria would be preemptive to Takfiri attacks similar to those on November 13, which claimed the lives of some 130 people in Paris.

"It will kill Syrians -- the only way to stop Daesh is to cut off their funding and their weapons... My heart cries for the Syrian people," called a protester.

The rally was the second of its kind held in London by anti-war protesters this week. On Saturday, around 5,000 people took to the streets of the British capital denouncing the proposed move.

Since August 2014, the United States and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against what they say are Daesh positions in Iraq. Some members of the US-led coalition have also been pounding purported Daesh positions inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate since September last year.

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