Anti-war protests to hit
Republican convention

Anti-war activists are planning a massive protest at next summer's Republican National Convention in Manhattan to voice their opposition to U.S. foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq.

The plan calls for a march to Central Park on Aug. 29, the day before the party plans to nominate President George W. Bush for re-election, Reuters reported.

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"United for Peace and Justice will be organizing what we believe will be one of the largest demonstrations in this country's history," organizer Leslie Cagan told reporters at a news conference. "We believe it will be in the hundreds of thousands."

Cagan said the capture of Saddam Hussein has not altered the group's plans.

"There's no evidence at all that Saddam Hussein has any connection to the 9-11 attacks," she said. "In fact there's yet to be any evidence for any of the reasons the Bush administration used to go to war."

The activist said she hopes the event will be a "turning point" on the Iraq issue and bring an end to the "occupation" of the nation.

Reuters reports the group also plans to stage protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July, though no prediction of the number of participants was given.

Cagan said she hoped the protest march would send a strong message.

"It is time to end the empire-building agenda of this country. It is time to build a foreign policy based on respect for international law and respect for the sovereignty of all independent nations," Cagan said.

Cagan's contention that Saddam was not involved in 9-11 comes in the wake of a report 9-11 mastermind Mohammed Atta was trained in Baghdad by Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal and had contact with Hussein shortly before the attack on America.

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