South Korean police used water cannon in central Seoul Sunday to disperse at least 7,000 protesters urging the government to reverse a controversial decision to send more troops to Iraq. Rock-throwing protesters clashed with riot police as they tried to march on the U.S. embassy near the central government compound and the presidential Blue House, witnesses said.
Police blasted two water cannon and fire extinguishers, they said. Police riot buses ringed the embassy and sealed off main streets in the city center. "We oppose sending troops to Iraq," protesters shouted. "Withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea. President Roh Moo-hyun, Step down."
About a dozen people were injured and several protesters were taken by police into custody, a Reuters photographer said. Police estimated there were about 7,000 protesters and 7,200 police officers at the scene. Other witnesses said the numbers may have been higher. The protest was the latest in a series of rallies organized by an alliance representing hundreds of civic groups which have been trying to persuade the government to scrap its troop deployment plan.
The rallies intensified after the beheading by militants in Iraq of a young South Korean interpreter in June. Earlier this year, parliament approved the deployment of some 3,000 troops to join 670 medics and engineers in Iraq since May of last year. The enlarged contingent's mission is to help rebuild Iraq after the war that brought down Saddam Hussein. South Korea's defense ministry has imposed a blackout on reporting on the additional deployment, citing security concerns.
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