San Diego

About 100 people opposed to the recent war in the Persian Gulf held a vigil Saturday along the San Diego Embarcadero, using the occasion to call for a halt to arms shipments to the Mideast and a pullout of U.S. troops from the region.

Weapons sales and the projected long-term deployment of Western troops will likely fuel continued unrest in the volatile region, organizers said.

The vigil was intended in part as a counterpoint to the pro-military parade held in San Diego on May 18, in which authorities say more than 200,000 people lined the downtown streets in a “salute” to U.S. troops.

“We think this is a more appropriate response to what happened than a victory parade,” said Don Bashford, a biophysicist who is on the steering committee of the Coalition for Peace in the Middle East. The group sponsored the vigil and spearheaded several anti-war protests during the Persian Gulf conflict.

The war, Bashford noted, is believed to have left 100,000 people dead, mostly Iraqi troops; led to an exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees; and set the stage for long-term health and environmental degradation in the Persian Gulf region.

Vigil participants also called for self-determination for Palestinians residing in Israel and in Israeli-occupied territories, along with an end to the U.S.-led United Nations sanctions against Baghdad.

Police reported no incidents during the approximate 1 1/2 hour event, which was held across the street from the county administration building.