More than 1,000 people demonstrated in Amsterdam and several hundred in Maastricht Saturday against the arrival of US President George W. Bush, who is scheduled to commemorate the end of World War II in Europe on Sunday at an American cemetery near the German border. In Amsterdam the protesters, some 1,000 according to the police and between 2,000 and 3,000 according to the organisers, carried signs and banners proclaiming "Bush, International Terrorist", "Bush, Enemy of the Environment" and "We Are Not an Ally".
The mostly young protesters rubbed shoulders with the tourists visiting Amsterdam's Museum Square, a stone's throw from the US consulate.
In Maastricht, where Bush was due to arrive Saturday evening from Riga, between 200 and 300 protesters gathered, the police said.
The president is scheduled to attend the ceremony at Margraten cemetery, near Maastricht, with Dutch Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
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