60 anti-war protesters detained at White House

US Police have arrested 60 protesters during a demonstration condemning the ongoing wars on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"As the US-led war in Afghanistan begins its ninth year this week, 61 were arrested, bringing a strong message to the White House," the organizers of the event, CommonDreams.org, said on its website.

All of those arrested had been cited and released, police officials said.

More than 500 people, among them US military war veterans and peace activists, gathered outside the White House in Washington to declare that "war, torture and drone bombing are outrageous, unacceptable and must end immediately," according to the website.

Celebrated anti-war protester, Cindy Sheehan and co-founder of the 'After Downing Street Coalition,' David Swanson, were among the arrested.

Sheehan turned into one of the major faces of the antiwar movement in the United States after her 25-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004. She led several anti-war rallies across the US, but the most famous one took place
outside George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas in 2005, which lasted several days.

Reports indicate that some of the demonstrators chained themselves to the White House fence, while others lay prone on the sidewalk, as if they were dead.

Protesters chanted "mourn the dead, heal the wounded, end the war" and "Healthcare Not Warfare," as President Barack Obama held his press conference on healthcare inside the White House.