Naked anti-war demos sweep world
 |
Nude anti-war protests are a growing trend.
Story Tools
|
SYDNEY, Australia -- Hundreds of Australian women have stripped off in a naked show of defiance against the possibility of a U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Around 300 women bared all in Sunday's protest, lying down on a Sydney sports field to spell out the words "No War".
"I would like to say to all the world leaders who think they not as tyrannical as Saddam Hussein, you're lying, you do want war, you have not exhausted all the diplomatic pathways," one protester said.
The cheeky demonstration was the latest in a series of naked anti-war protests around the world.
In Byron Bay, north of Sydney, 250 men dressed in their birthday suits to spell out "Peace, man."
Global trend
On the other side of the Pacific, in West Marin, California, about 100 women used their bodies to spell out the word "Peace" on a a local beach.
That gathering followed a similar protest Saturday, in the Chilean capital Santiago, where police were bemused as 300 naked men and women gathered in a park to voice their anti-war feelings.
But the attitude amongst authorities changed when the protesters marched to the presidential palace.
A water cannon was used to disperse the crowd, with officials saying the protest was authorized for the park only.
The weekend demonstrations follow a global naked protest trend taking place amid a growing climate of anti-war sentiment.
"Reasons for the nakedness: one is that it is total vulnerability," said Australian singer and peace activist Grace Knight , who organized the Sydney protest.
"It's absolute complete vulnerability, and in that vulnerability there's also an awful lot of power, there's a mighty well of power there."
