NSW: Police warn against any ANZAC Day protest
SYDNEY, April 25 AAP - With Australian servicemen and women now in Iraq, the nationwill pause today to mark Anzac Day.
In Sydney, the traditional dawn service will be held, with police warning yesterdaythat protesters should stay away.
The message delivered by police, political leaders and even some protest groups wasthe same: today is a day for remembrance, and not a stage for anything else.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Terry Collins admitted yesterday that with no indicationthat groups behind recent anti-war marches planned to demonstrate, public security wasthe major concern.
"With the heightened state of alert through world events, we've ramped up our responseto a lot of activities that normally we wouldn't have to this degree," Mr Collins said.
Still, police were positioned overnight around the Cenotaph in Sydney's Martin Placeand other war memorials to guard against desecration and any other unlawful activity.
They would also be on scene early to offer security at the Sydney dawn service whichbegins at the Cenotaph at 4.30am (AEST) and at the 9am Anzac Day March.
Troublemakers would be arrested, Mr Collins said.
"Anzac Day is a time of respect, for protesters to use this day of remembrance to furthertheir cause would be the greatest insult to the sacrifices our diggers have made," MrCollins said.
A similar appeal has come from the NSW RSL, which predicted more than 250,000 peoplewould march tomorrow.
"Anzac Day itself is a commemoration of peace ... it is not a commemoration of war,"
president Keith Hall said.
The Books Not Bombs (BNB) national coalition behind last month's violent anti-war Sydneyprotest said they had no intention of disrupting Anzac Day.
"I really don't think anybody would," BNB spokesman Simon Butler said.
"We don't think it would be an effective way of convincing people of our oppositionto occupation and future wars."
AAP jo/pa/cd
KEYWORD: ANZAC NSW DAYLEAD
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