Protesters Gather Outside Downing St To Oppose Syria Intervention

Protesters rallied outside Downing Street on Wednesday (August 28) against possible British military intervention in Syria, as Prime Minister David Cameron recalled parliament to discuss the response to the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians by the Syrian regime.

Britain, the United States and their allies geared up on Tuesday (August 27) for a probable military strike against Syria that they said could come within days and would be the most aggressive action by Western powers in the Middle Eastern nation's two-and-a-half-year civil war.

However Britain changed its stance on Wednesday, saying that the U.N. Security Council should see findings from chemical weapons inspectors before it responded militarily and that the British parliament should vote on the matter twice.

The Labour party says it plans to oppose any military action unless U.N. inspectors can provide firm evidence the Syrian regime carried out the attack.

"Anybody who thinks that the day after we bomb Syria, Assad is going to wake up and say I'm going to stop these atrocities against my people, is delusional," Labour MP Diane Abbott told the rally.

Protesters said British involvement in Syria would not help to solve the crisis.

"They are going to make it worse, they are going to ruin it, and they're going to make it like Iraq and we do not want it to happen there. We don't want Syria to be the same as Iraq. They are not trying to help, they are after something else, everyone knows it. They are not after helping people," said Jihan, who has family in Syria.

"I'm here today because I don't want to see Britain going to another war in the Middle East, which I think will have terrible consequences for the region. It would be like pouring petrol on fire," said another protester.

The Stop the War Coalition said in statement while they oppose the use of chemical weapons, it should not be an excuse for exacerbating an already bloody civil war. They have called for a national march to Trafalgar Square in central London on Saturday (August 31).

Presented by Adam Justice