INDIA: Tens of thousands of Muslims and Communist Party activists took to the streets across India yesterday, hours before the arrival of US president George Bush who is hoping to seal a deal on sharing nuclear energy with his hosts during a three-day visit.
Some 100,000 Muslim men, many wearing skull prayer caps, gathered in a public ground in the heart of the capital, New Delhi, shouting anti-Bush slogans.
"Go back, Bush", "Bush is a killer", "Bully Bush, buzz off", "Bush, stop the ambush", they railed as hundreds of policemen in riot gear kept watch.
"We do not want Bush here as he is the world's biggest terrorist. He has no place in the land of [ Mahatma] Gandhi," said Abdul Hameed Naumani, spokesman for the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind organisation which arranged the protest.
In the eastern city of Kolkata, a communist stronghold, about 25,000 left-wing activists converged on the city centre to participate in a public meeting organised by the Committee Against Bush Visit.
India's communist parties - allies of the ruling Congress Party-led federal coalition that is hosting the Bush visit - were preparing for similar protests today in Delhi.
About 60 communist MPs, who have successfully prevented Mr Bush from addressing both houses of parliament, said they would stage a sit-in demonstration in parliament.
Students across the country are planning large-scale protests against Mr Bush, who they hold responsible for killing thousands of Iraqis and for fomenting terrorism around the world.
Washington and New Delhi hope that Mr Bush and India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, will clinch a landmark civilian nuclear co-operation deal that could help India meet its burgeoning energy needs.
The deal has run into trouble over differences on nuclear-armed India's plan to separate its military and civilian atomic plants to prevent proliferation.
Meanwhile, snake charmers have sounded the all-clear for Mr Bush to proceed with plans to deliver a speech from a 16th century fort in New Delhi.
City police roped in the snake charmers after curators of Purana Qila expressed concern that reptiles could "gatecrash" Mr Bush's scheduled address tomorrow.
"It was part of our drill to sanitise the fort as it is flanked by a porous zoo on one side and a large lake on the other and the president will be delivering his address from a lawn which has shrubs on its fringes," a senior police officer said.