Post by ocelot on Apr 9, 2007 19:00:21 GMT -5
Iraqis protest on anniversary of Baghdad's fall
Last Updated: Monday, April 9, 2007 | 4:01 PM ET
The Associated Press
Tens of thousands of Iraqis draped themselves in the country's flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shia Muslim holy cities Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall.
Demonstrators were flanked by two cordons of police as they called for U.S.-led forces to leave, shouting "Get out, get out occupier!"
Security was tight across Iraq with a 24-hour ban on all vehicles in Baghdad starting 5 a.m. Monday. The government quickly reinstated the day as a holiday, rescinding its weekend order that had decreed that April 9 no longer would be a day off.
The march — from Kufa to neighbouring Najaf, about 160 kilometres south of Baghdad — was ordered by Muqtada al-Sadr, the powerful Shia Muslim cleric who leads an estimated 60,000 militants in the Baghdad-based Mahdi Army. The militia has clashed with U.S., British and Iraqi forces, and been accused of widening the sectarian divides in the country by attacks on Sunni Muslims.
Al-Sadr issued a statement Sunday ordering his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust U.S. forces, and argued that Iraq's army and police should join him in defeating "your arch-enemy."
Those marching were overwhelmingly Shias, but Sunni Muslims — who are believed to make up the heart of Iraq's insurgency — have also called for a U.S. withdrawal. Some at the rally waved small Iraqi flags; others hoisted a giant flag nine metres long. Leaflets fluttered through the breeze reading: "Yes, Yes to Iraq" and "Yes, Yes to Muqtada. Occupiers should leave Iraq."
The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people," said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, as he marched. "After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded."
Monday's demonstration marked four years since U.S. marines and the Army's 3rd Infantry Division swept into the Iraqi capital on April 9, 2003, 20 days into the U.S. invasion that ousted President Saddam Hussein.
A senior official in al-Sadr's organization in Najaf, Salah al-Obaydi, called the rally a "call for liberation."
"We're hoping that by next year's anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty," he said.
Al-Sadr did not attend the demonstration, and has not appeared in public for months. U.S. officials say he left Iraq for neighbouring Iran after the Feb. 14 start of a Baghdad security crackdown, but his followers say he is in Iraq.
U.S. colonel praises peaceful nature of protest
Iraqi soldiers in uniform joined the crowd, which was led by at least a dozen turbaned clerics, including one Sunni Muslim. Many marchers danced as they moved through the streets.
Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman and aide to the commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, praised the peaceful nature of the demonstration, saying Iraqis "could not have done this four years ago."
"This is the right to assemble, the right to free speech — they didn't have that under the former regime," Boylan said. "This is progress, there's no two ways about it."
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday that "mistakes were made" after Saddam's government was toppled.
"The main mistake was a vacuum left in the fields of security and politics, and second mistake was how liberating forces became occupation forces," Zebari told al-Arabiyah television.
Last Updated: Monday, April 9, 2007 | 4:01 PM ET
The Associated Press
Tens of thousands of Iraqis draped themselves in the country's flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shia Muslim holy cities Monday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall.
Demonstrators were flanked by two cordons of police as they called for U.S.-led forces to leave, shouting "Get out, get out occupier!"
Security was tight across Iraq with a 24-hour ban on all vehicles in Baghdad starting 5 a.m. Monday. The government quickly reinstated the day as a holiday, rescinding its weekend order that had decreed that April 9 no longer would be a day off.
The march — from Kufa to neighbouring Najaf, about 160 kilometres south of Baghdad — was ordered by Muqtada al-Sadr, the powerful Shia Muslim cleric who leads an estimated 60,000 militants in the Baghdad-based Mahdi Army. The militia has clashed with U.S., British and Iraqi forces, and been accused of widening the sectarian divides in the country by attacks on Sunni Muslims.
Al-Sadr issued a statement Sunday ordering his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust U.S. forces, and argued that Iraq's army and police should join him in defeating "your arch-enemy."
Those marching were overwhelmingly Shias, but Sunni Muslims — who are believed to make up the heart of Iraq's insurgency — have also called for a U.S. withdrawal. Some at the rally waved small Iraqi flags; others hoisted a giant flag nine metres long. Leaflets fluttered through the breeze reading: "Yes, Yes to Iraq" and "Yes, Yes to Muqtada. Occupiers should leave Iraq."
The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people," said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, as he marched. "After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded."
Monday's demonstration marked four years since U.S. marines and the Army's 3rd Infantry Division swept into the Iraqi capital on April 9, 2003, 20 days into the U.S. invasion that ousted President Saddam Hussein.
A senior official in al-Sadr's organization in Najaf, Salah al-Obaydi, called the rally a "call for liberation."
"We're hoping that by next year's anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty," he said.
Al-Sadr did not attend the demonstration, and has not appeared in public for months. U.S. officials say he left Iraq for neighbouring Iran after the Feb. 14 start of a Baghdad security crackdown, but his followers say he is in Iraq.
U.S. colonel praises peaceful nature of protest
Iraqi soldiers in uniform joined the crowd, which was led by at least a dozen turbaned clerics, including one Sunni Muslim. Many marchers danced as they moved through the streets.
Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman and aide to the commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, praised the peaceful nature of the demonstration, saying Iraqis "could not have done this four years ago."
"This is the right to assemble, the right to free speech — they didn't have that under the former regime," Boylan said. "This is progress, there's no two ways about it."
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday that "mistakes were made" after Saddam's government was toppled.
"The main mistake was a vacuum left in the fields of security and politics, and second mistake was how liberating forces became occupation forces," Zebari told al-Arabiyah television.