President Bush stopped in Iraq on his way to Australia, where he is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney. The APEC summit brings Bush together with 20 other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Hu Jintao. Climate change is expected to top the summit’s agenda. Outside the summit, antiwar protesters gathered earlier today to denounce President Bush.

Alex Bainbridge, protester: “We have organized the rally because we cannot sit on the sidelines while a warmonger like George Bush comes to this country. We cannot sit on the sidelines in the face of innocent people being killed every day in Iraq, with the support of the Australian government, in our name. We cannot sit by while these things happen. And we’re here today to say not only George Bush is not welcome in this country, but we are not intimidated, and our protest will be going ahead on Saturday.”

On Saturday, up to 20,000 protesters are expected to take part in a rally organized by the Stop Bush Coalition. Environmental groups have also been staging demonstrations urging the APEC nations to take action to cut the emission of greenhouse gases. Eleven protesters were arrested today after they chained themselves by the neck to equipment at the world’s biggest coal port, Newcastle, north of Sydney.