17 anti-war protesters held

Seventeen people were arrested yesterday during an anti-war protest outside the United Nations, where chief arms inspector Hans Blix was addressing the UN Security Council.

At its peak, there were between 200 and 300 people at the hour-long protest across the street from UN headquarters in midtown Manhattan, police said.

The group chanted slogans and held up signs reading: "Let the Inspectors Work" and "No to Bush's Oil War."

Speaking at a news conference following the hour-long protest, Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based non-profit legal group, urged the United States not to go to war against Iraq.