More than 100 police officers staged a boisterous impromptu demonstration outside a Manhattan courtroom yesterday afternoon after a police officer in the 34th Precinct in upper Manhattan was convicted of perjury.

But the signs that the delegates toted served only to reveal the tension and uncertainty that the boisterous demonstration was meant to conceal.

Union leaders said that about a half-million workers from more than 50 labor unions have joined the two-day strike, with picket lines and boisterous demonstrations outside government offices, banks and commercial centers across the island.

In recent weeks, the streets of Abidjan and other cities have been the scene of increasingly boisterous demonstrations against the code, causing Mr. Bedie to outlaw demonstrations altogether.

Residents said that the angry, boisterous demonstration was the largest in Najaf, the heart of Shiite religious power, since the American-led invasion in 2003.

Prepared for much larger and more boisterous demonstrations, the police officers mostly watched the spectacle with quizzical expressions.

It wasn't so much a riot as a boisterous demonstration, he decided.

Both sides brought busloads of people to City Hall for the council meeting, and there were boisterous demonstrations in the corridors and on nearby streets.

A buzz of approval burst involuntarily from all the men, but military discipline and the respect due to their officers kept them in check from any boisterous demonstration of their satisfaction.

He rose to accept the acclaim and laughingly reminded the chamber that "boisterous demonstrations" were forbidden.