Anti-war campaigners have urged the Government to cancel the visit of President George Bush to Ireland in June.
Ahead of demonstrations against the Iraq war tomorrow, one of the protesting groups - the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) - said it was consulting legal advisers to see if Mr Bush could be arrested as a war criminal, as former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested when he visited Britain in 1998.
Mr Roger Cole, chairman of PANA, said the war on Iraq had contravened international law so perhaps a case could be made that Mr Bush was a war criminal.
He was speaking as anti-war activists outlined how they would mark the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq tomorrow.
Dublin is one of 108 cities around the world where marches against the war will be held.
Protesters will gather outside the US embassy at 12.30 p.m. to hear a roll-call of some of the thousands of Iraqis killed since the war began. Anti-war campaigners will also read out the names of American, Italian and Spanish soldiers killed in the war, as well as the victims of last week's atrocity in Madrid.
At 1.30 p.m. PANA will lay a wreath outside the US embassy to commemorate the dead.
Protesters will then gather in Parnell Square for a march to the Department of Foreign Affairs at 3 p.m. Mr Richard Boyd Barrett of the Irish Anti-War Movement said thousands were expected to demonstrate. Buses have been organised from Cork, Galway and Waterford.
MEPs Mr Proinsias De Rossa and Ms Patricia McKenna yesterday accused Mr Bush of using his visit to Ireland as a pre-election stunt.
Mr De Rossa said there was "absolutely no reason" why the US/EU summit should not be held in Brussels. He said the summit should go ahead as it was dealing with important issues, but it should not take place in the context of Mr Bush's re-election campaign.
Ms McKenna said the summit was planned for Ireland because "clearly there's no Irish-American votes to be had in Brussels".
She called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to state clearly his position on the war. "He really wants it both ways. On the one hand, he's saying he didn't support the war. But he provided facilities at Shannon - I don't see how that is not supporting the war. And secondly, he wants to be able to give the impression to President Bush that he supports him."
She said she would be urging people from all over Europe to come to Ireland to join in the protest if the visit went ahead.
The Socialist Party deputy, Mr Joe Higgins, said the Taoiseach's condemnation of protests against Mr Bush was "a disgraceful attempt" to mask the strong Irish opposition to US foreign policy.
"It's clear that Mr Ahern has utterly failed to learn from Senor Aznar's downfall," he said, adding that the recently defeated Spanish prime minister had spurned the views of 90 per cent of the Spanish people who opposed the invasion of Iraq.
The Irish Anti-War Movement criticised Mr Ahern for meeting Mr Bush at the White House on St Patrick's Day.
Mr Richard Boyd Barrett said the Taoiseach had played the "stage-Irishman" in supporting the Bush administration.
He said the Taoiseach had lent credibility to the "ridiculous claim that George Bush is somehow waging a war against terror when in fact he has waged a war of terror against the people of Iraq".
The speakers urged people to register their opposition to the Government's foreign policy stance in the local and European elections in June.
