CAIRO, March 5: About 500,000 Egyptians joined a tightly controlled anti-war rally organized by the ruling National Democratic Party in Cairo on Wednesday, urging a peaceful end to the Iraq crisis.

“No to war. Yes to peace. Yes to international law,” Information Minister Safwat el-Sherif said over loudspeakers to demonstrators who were bussed in from all over Egypt and who chanted back the minister’s words.

Until recently, anti-war protests have mostly been muted and unauthorised affairs, with only a few dozen demonstrators turning up, usually heavily outnumbered by security.

Egyptians oppose war, but many say they are too busy with everyday life to take to the streets. Egypt’s government also opposes war, but has increasingly put the onus on Iraq to prove it is complying with UN demands to avert an attack.

Dia Rashwan, an analyst at the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said Wednesday’s gathering was meant to show the ruling party was in step with public opinion.

“They are holding it to absorb popular feeling against the idea of the United States attacking Iraq, so that they can say the NDP represents Egyptian popular feelings,” he said.

Sobhi Ahmed, a 26-year-old NDP party member and teacher from Bahariya Oasis, 110kms southeast of Cairo, said he had left home at three o’clock in morning on a special NDP bus.

“We want peace, not war... The United States wants oil and a new political map for the Middle East,” he said.

Carefully controlled crowds marched in a limited area near Egypt’s memorial to the unknown soldier and a sports stadium on the outskirts of the sprawling capital. Several officials attended, including Gamal Mubarak, a son of President Hosni Mubarak who heads an NDP policy-making body.

The protest received unusual, live coverage on state television. Despite the official organisation, several Cairenes said they were unaware of Wednesday’s protest, which apparently failed to win broad grassroots support.

Protests are banned under emergency laws in place since 1981. Officials are wary of any spontaneous unrest.—Reuters