Berlin, July 07: Scores of US nationals from around Europe today adopted a declaration condemning President George W Bush and his administration over their policy on Iraq, a spokesman said. The "declaration of independence from the current tendencies in US policy" was adopted in Berlin by some 50 American Voices Abroad (AVA) delegates from Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany and The Netherlands.

It included a proposal to "create an international network of Americans abroad in order to pool political potential in the form of a vote against Bush in the 2004 elections," said AVA member Colin King. King said the members, who were holding the first AVA Congress, were hoping to gather 100,000 votes to put to use in next year's presidential elections.

He said that a weekend of events, including concerts, public discussions and symposiums, had been "extremely successful", and that around 1,000 Euros (1,150 dollars) had been raised for an Iraqi children's charity and the prevention of nuclear weapons.

According to the declaration, the US administration with its policy of "preventive attacks" has "become destructive of fundamental human rights at home and around the world." "Our country risks becoming the kind of empire that the founding fathers sought independence from when they signed the declaration of independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776," it reads.

Bureau Report