Architecture

Protest outside Downing Street, Westminster,London

Saturday, May 19, 2007 Craig Grobler 0 Comments

Thousands of citizens of the Horn of Africa staged a mass demonstration in Downing Street, London, protesting against United Kingdom and the United States for supporting the Ethiopian government.

As they demonstrate, the protesters hoisted hundreds of flags of Eritrea, Somalia, Eritrea, Ogaden and Oromo. They also waved so many placards, calling for unity against what they referred to as the Ethiopia government-led conflict, which saw the burning down of villages, raping of women and children in the Ogaden region.

Downing Street is the street in London, England, which for over two hundred years has contained the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The most famous address in Downing Street is 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury—and thus, in modern times, the residence of the Prime Minister, since the two roles have usually been filled by the same person (exclusively so since 1902). As a result of this, Downing Street or Number 10 is often used as a metonym for the Prime Minister or his or her office, while Number 11 is likewise a term for the Chancellor of the Exchequer or his or her office.

Downing Street is located in Whitehall in central London, a few minutes' walk from the Houses of Parliament and on the edge of the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet (1632–1689) on the site of a mansion called Hampden House. Downing was a soldier and diplomat who served under Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II. In the service of the King he was rewarded with the plot of land adjoining St James's Park upon which Downing Street now stands. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Chief Whip all officially live in houses on one side of the street. The houses on the other side were all replaced by the Foreign Office in the nineteenth century. In the 1950s and 1960s, plans were considered to demolish both the Foreign Office and the rest of Downing Street and build "something more modern".[citation needed] However, these plans were never implemented and have long since been abandoned.

The also asked Ethiopian forces to quit the Eritrean territory, release Oromo prisoners and withdraw it troops from Somalia.

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