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• Reporter's Notebook: Baghdad Fighting Intensifies • Points of Interest in Baghdad for U.S. • A Sharp Turn in U.S. Perceptions of War

Spain's most prominent judge shed his robe for a day and joined in a peace rally Sunday, voicing scathing criticism for the war in Iraq and the Spanish government's support for it.

Introduced as "citizen Baltasar Garzon," the investigating magistrate who seldom speaks in public took to the stage at a concert and peace rally held at Madrid's Independence Plaza.

Police estimated attendance at 15,000 people. Protesters carried banners with slogans such as "Oil kills."

Garzon is best-known abroad for his ultimately failed effort in 1999 to put former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on trial in Spain for genocide. He has also targeted Basque separatists and ordered the arrests of dozens of suspected members of al-Qaida.

At the rally, Garzon called the war an act of madness and criticized the Spanish government for supporting it in defiance of public opinion. Polls show up to 90 percent of the Spanish people oppose the war.

photo credit and caption:

Protesters shout during speeches at a peace concert held in a street beneath the Puerta de Alcala monument in Madrid, Spain Sunday, April 6, 2003. The concert was held to protest the U.S. led war on Iraq which the Spanish government is supporting. Banners read 'Peace, we will not shut up' and 'Illegal War, Not even general Franco Sold us to a Mad Aggressor'. (AP Photo/Paul White)

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