Police break up Parliament Square anti-war camp

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) Police dismantled a long-running anti-war protest opposite the Houses of Parliament today, carting away placards showing graphic images of dead and mutilated people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a pre-dawn raid, officers invaded the makeshift camp of protester Brian Haw, who had been living on the lawn in Parliament Square for more than five years.

Haw, 56, lost a protracted legal battle earlier this month against new laws strictly limiting protests within a one kilometre zone of the square.

After removal of his placards Haw was left with just one poster but remained defiant and said he would stay where he was.

''This is Mr. Blair's Britain,'' he told Reuters. ''You dare to speak, you dare to say it too real, too powerfully, to get through to people, and they smash it all down.'' Haw first sat down in the square in 2001 to protest sanctions against Iraq and over time had constructed a graphic and gory display railing against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and against human rights violations around the world.

Over the past-half decade, the protest has established itself as part of the landscape along with Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, creating an object of interest for some, but an annoyance for others.

London police said they took down placards because Haw had failed to comply with the new laws even after being asked to do so a number of times.

''Police attended Parliament Square and removed placards from a demonstration site as per conditions imposed on demonstrations by the Metropolitan Police Service,'' Scotland Yard said in a statement.

Passers-by had mixed views.

''British soldiers are supposed to be fighting for democracy, and that includes freedom of speech,'' said one.

Others felt Haw had a point but had gone too far.

''He has a right to protest, but he shouldn't be able to deface a whole square,'' said Jane Miller, a tourist from Houston, Texas.

Haw himself recognizes his critics, saying, ''I might not like what they say, what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom.'' He plans to continue. ''I'm carrying on, and I'm fasting and praying,'' he said. ''I'm against all forms of violence -- it just doesn't work.'' Reuters SHB DB1915