To mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, groups worldwide engaged in anti-war actions between 17 and 20 March - from mass marches and vigils naming the dead, to protests outside military recruitment centres. According to US network United for Peace and Justice, up to 1,000 local events were planned across the States. In Spain an estimated 400,000 took to the streets of Madrid, and protests also took place in Australia, New Zealand, Hungary and Canada.
In Britain, Voices in the Wilderness UK held an unauthorised event in London's Parliament Square on 18 March (pictured). As the group “planted” 186 crosses - each representing 1,000 Iraqi deaths - the Metropolitan police declined to use their powers under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 to arrest any of the participants.
The following day, the London offices of BearingPoint were targeted for a noise demo by pot and pan-wielding activists. The US consultancy firm has contracts worth tens of millions of dollars to facilitate Iraq's economic reconstruction. According to first-hand reports, three people were arrested for handing out leaflets, but were later released without charge. The US Center for Corporate Policy has listed BearingPoint in its top ten of Iraq war profiteers.