Thousands of anti-war activists marched through Hollywood Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the Iraq war and to call for an end to the fighting.

Groups from other rallies and marches converged on Hollywood, where a star-studded cast addressed the crowd, which reportedly had several thousand people.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis, who penned and directed this year's Oscar best picture winner "Crash", and actor Martin Sheen were among the speechmakers.

"We want to put an end to this insane war and to spend money where it is needed, for example on the people hurt by hurricane Katrina," said Marcial Guerra of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, which organized the rally.

"Fund people's needs, not the war machine. That's one of our main slogans," Guerra said.

Activists marched to the rally from across Los Angeles and some traveled in caravans from surrounding areas like Long Beach, Riverside and Ventura, according to Guerra.

People involved in "The California March for Peace" attended the rally as a stop on their 677-km march from Tijuana, Mexico to San Francisco.

The march aims to "ensure that the Latino voice of opposition to the war (in Iraq) is heard loud and clear," according to organizers.

U.S. President George W. Bush earlier in the day used his weekly radio address to urge Americans to stay the course in Iraq and resist the impulse to retreat.

Anti-war activists and many Democrats have been pushing the Bush administration to come up with a plan to bring troops home from Iraq. More than 2,300 U.S. troops have died since the start of the war three years ago.

Source: Xinhua