By John W. Fountain
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 26, 1998; Page A23

The quiet procession of nearly two dozen protesters filed past the downtown lunchtime crowd yesterday behind a man who pounded out a slow beat on the bottom of a plastic bucket.

Another carried a 7-foot wooden cross. Someone else held a pail of ashes to be spread. The ashes were not to be spread on the protesters' heads as was done by Christians marking Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which is the 40 days of reflection and penance leading to Easter.

They were for spreading on the sidewalk outside the White House and meant to be a public symbol of repentance for what the demonstrators believe have been sins by this nation against Iraq, namely economic sanctions.

After spreading their ashes, four of the protesters, who did not have a permit to demonstrate, were arrested but not before having their say.

"Drop the sanctions now!" they chanted before being escorted to a police wagon and carted away.

The group was part of a national coalition of religious leaders and laymen who called upon fellow Christians yesterday to pray for more lasting peace between Iraq and the United States. They also urged political leaders to end U.N. economic sanctions imposed against Iraq following its 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, and after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Yesterday's local demonstration was organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, which works with poor and homeless people in Washington. It was part of a "National Day of Prayer, Fasting and Witness" organized by Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic movement for peace.

"We saw this as a day for Christians to repent and think about the sanctions which are ongoing," said David Robinson, a group spokesman. They want to draw attention to the "suffering and death of the innocent in Iraq."

The United Nations Children's Fund has estimated that as many as 4,500 Iraqi children a month are dying or becoming severely ill as a result of the sanctions.

"The war has been going on for eight years," said Chris Barrett, of Lynchburg, Va., referring to the economic sanctions against Iraq. Barrett, who participated in the afternoon demonstration, said he was relieved a U.S. strike against Iraq has been averted, for the moment, but worries over "ongoing tough talk."

Yesterday afternoon's protest originated outside St. Matthew's Cathedral, at 1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A huge crowd had gathered on the steps, and music from a choir and organ spilled from speakers. But most of the people lining the steps of St. Matthew's were there for Mass and generally ignored the small group of protesters, who passed out fliers, prayed aloud and read scriptures.

"We bring ashes to the White House as a public acknowledgment of the sin of war-making," one of the demonstrators proclaimed moments before the group began its march.

Though silent, the marchers drew the attention of downtown workers. But not all onlookers were entirely sympathetic to their call for no war.

"We don't want it to be war, but we can't have them [Iraq] doing what they want to do either," said Carole Brewer, of Cheverly.

The protest lasted into the evening, as about 120 people attended an hour-long service last night at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church that included singing and a speech by Hala Salaam Maksoud, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

With foreheads dusted with ash, the group filed out of the church into the cold and marched again to the White House for a candlelight vigil that included remarks by Bishop P. Francis Murphy, of Baltimore.

While the group sang a hymn in Latin, U.S. Park Police arrested six protesters about 9:25 p.m. for refusing to leave the sidewalk in front of the White House. Among those arrested was D.C. resident Art Laffin, who spoke at the church service, denouncing the sanctions he said he saw firsthand while visiting Iraq this month on a humanitarian mission to smuggle medicine into the country.