South Africans protest US policy on Syria

Hundreds of South Africans gathered outside the US embassy here Friday in protest against the US-led "imperialist aggression in Syria".

The protest went on peacefully under the watchful eye of police. Organisers claimed the number of protesters was "several hundred", police said the number could be lower, Xinhua reported.

Holding anti-war placards and raising anti-US slogans, the protesters called for a new world based on peace, justice and democracy for all.

The purpose of the protest was to "condemn the USA-led and Israeli supported imperialist aggression, war-mongering, killings, human rights abuses and plunder, particularly in Syria as well as in the broader Middle East," said Bongani Masuku, International Relations Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

"We are demanding an immediate end of the two-year war in Syria and the continuous beating of war drums by the USA and other imperialist countries," Masuku said.

The protest was organised by the "Coalition Against Imperialist Aggression in Syria," which is made up of South African political parties, trade unions and civil society organizations, including COSATU and the South African Communist Party (SACP).

"COSATU supports call for action against US militarism against Syria," said Masuku.