LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-war protesters joined marches in Britain on Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.
They took to the streets in London and the Scottish city of Glasgow demanding that British troops pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the Stop The War coalition, which organised the marches, said that five years after the invasion of Iraq, the world had become "a much more dangerous place."
"Estimates suggest as many as one million people have died violent deaths as a result of the occupation of Iraq," spokesman Paul Collins said.
He said Prime Minister Gordon Brown was sending more troops to Afghanistan and claimed "this hidden war is fast becoming a disaster mirroring Iraq."
But the Foreign Office disputed Stop the War's conclusions. "In Iraq, there is clear evidence we are making steady progress, particularly in terms of security," a spokesman told Reuters.
"In Afghanistan NATO forces are winning the struggle against the Taliban," he added.
Organisers estimated that the London march had attracted up to 40,000 protesters. Police put the figure at 10,000. In Glasgow the demonstration attracted several hundred protesters.
(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Sami Aboudi)
Protesters leading the march 
Yesterday, thousands of people attended anti-war protests in London and Glasgow organised by the Stop the War Coalition. The event marks nearly five years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq which begun the Iraq War. The main themes were "Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan", "Don’t attack Iran", and "End the siege of Gaza". 

In London, protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square before marching down Whitehall to Parliament Square, across Westminster Bridge, along Lambeth Palace Road before crossing the River Thames again at Lambeth Bridge, returning to Parliament Square via Millbank.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office labelled the Stop the War Coalition's description of the current situation in Iraq as "simply not accurate", saying, "In Iraq, there is clear evidence we are making steady progress, particularly in terms of security. We have also acknowledged that mistakes were made, and drawn the appropriate lessons".

Estimates as to the number of protesters in London range from 10,000 according to the Police, up to 40,000 according to the organisers.