Somehow the sparseness helps make this gesture seem timely and respectful rather than crass.
"Most of us said they had been waiting to make this gesture and that we should have done so long before," says Liu, 67, a retired publisher.
"We came here hoping to meet with people who may, or may not, have resentment towards Muslims, either because of 7/7 or the current situation, and rather than hiding away we wanted to make this gesture".
He added that the British authorities should make this gesture so Assange "can benefit from the right of asylum that we have granted him, as should be done in a respectful international relationship".
" 'You just make this gesture' — and that was a big swing of the right hand and raising your fist up in the air — 'and that will be all you have to do.' " She married after college and divorced after World War II.
"I am ready to be the one to make this gesture that parts of society are waiting for, and starting today, I am resigning my mandate as prime minister," he said.
