Nickdfresh
08-04-2006, 06:30 AM
Shiites in Iraq for Pro-Hezbollah Rally
Friday, August 4, 2006 5:38 AM EDT
The Associated Press (http://www.forbes.com/business/commerce/feeds/ap/2006/08/04/ap2927445.html)
By MURTADA FARAJ
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Tens of thousands of Shiites draped in white shrouds gathered in Iraq's capital Friday for a pro-Hezbollah rally, while violence around the country left eight people dead.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb killed three policemen, and clashes between Iraqi security forces and Sunni insurgents left one policeman dead and eight people injured, officials said. Four Shiites were shot dead overnight by unidentified gunmen near Baghdad.
The streets of the Shiite-dominated Sadr City slum in Baghdad were packed with thousands of people for the rally, called by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Organizers said about 250,000 people had gathered, but the estimate was impossible to confirm.
Dressed in white shrouds — a symbol of their willingness to die — the demonstrators waved Hezbollah's yellow flags and chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."
"I am wearing the shroud and I am ready to meet martyrdom," said Mohammed Khalaf, 35, owner of a clothes shop in the southern Amarah city.
"I consider my participation in this rally a religious duty. I am proud to join this crowd and I am ready to die for the sake of Lebanon," said Khazim al-Ibadi, 40, a government employee from Hillah.
Al-Sadr followers painted U.S. and Israeli flags on the main road leading to the rally site, and demonstrators stepped on them with relish. Alongside the painted flags was written: "These are the terrorists."
Although the rally was about Hezbollah, it is also a show of strength by al-Sadr, who commands a powerful militia, the Mahdi Army, which U.S. officials have blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence. It was not clear if al-Sadr, who lives in the southern holy city of Najaf, would attend.
Iraqi government television said the Defense Ministry had approved the demonstration, a sign of the public anger over Israel's offensive in Lebanon and of al-Sadr's stature as a major player in Iraqi politics.
Also, the presence of so many Shiite demonstrators — most of them from the Mahdi Army — adds to tensions in the city that has seen almost daily clashes between Shiite and Sunni extremists. The sectarian violence escalated after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks on Sunnis nationwide.
Tensions were already high over the shooting by U.S. troops of what Iraqi police said was one al-Sadr follower while he was on his way to Baghdad on Thursday. Police said he was shot after he brandished a weapon. However, American officials said two people were shot dead by U.S. troops, describing them as terrorists.
Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told a Senate committee in Washington Thursday that sectarian violence in Iraq "is probably as bad as I have seen it" and that if the spiral continued the country "could move toward civil war."
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the sentiment.
"We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war," Pace told the hearing.
In the latest violence Friday, security forces and gunmen exchanged fire for several hours in Mosul. One policeman died and eight people, including seven policemen, were injured, said Dr. Baha al-Din al-Bakri of the Mosul General Hospital. A seven-hour curfew was imposed.
Also Friday, a car bomb hit an Iraqi police patrol in Mosul, killing a police colonel and his two bodyguards, said Mosul police spokesman, Saad Abdellah al-Jubouri.
Gunmen shot and killed four people and wounded eight from a Shiite family late Thursday in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, police Lt. Hussam al-Dujeili, said.
———
Associated Press correspondents Vijay Joshi, Sameer N. Yacoub and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.
Good thing we "liberated" them, eh Neocons?:)
Friday, August 4, 2006 5:38 AM EDT
The Associated Press (http://www.forbes.com/business/commerce/feeds/ap/2006/08/04/ap2927445.html)
By MURTADA FARAJ
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Tens of thousands of Shiites draped in white shrouds gathered in Iraq's capital Friday for a pro-Hezbollah rally, while violence around the country left eight people dead.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb killed three policemen, and clashes between Iraqi security forces and Sunni insurgents left one policeman dead and eight people injured, officials said. Four Shiites were shot dead overnight by unidentified gunmen near Baghdad.
The streets of the Shiite-dominated Sadr City slum in Baghdad were packed with thousands of people for the rally, called by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Organizers said about 250,000 people had gathered, but the estimate was impossible to confirm.
Dressed in white shrouds — a symbol of their willingness to die — the demonstrators waved Hezbollah's yellow flags and chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."
"I am wearing the shroud and I am ready to meet martyrdom," said Mohammed Khalaf, 35, owner of a clothes shop in the southern Amarah city.
"I consider my participation in this rally a religious duty. I am proud to join this crowd and I am ready to die for the sake of Lebanon," said Khazim al-Ibadi, 40, a government employee from Hillah.
Al-Sadr followers painted U.S. and Israeli flags on the main road leading to the rally site, and demonstrators stepped on them with relish. Alongside the painted flags was written: "These are the terrorists."
Although the rally was about Hezbollah, it is also a show of strength by al-Sadr, who commands a powerful militia, the Mahdi Army, which U.S. officials have blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence. It was not clear if al-Sadr, who lives in the southern holy city of Najaf, would attend.
Iraqi government television said the Defense Ministry had approved the demonstration, a sign of the public anger over Israel's offensive in Lebanon and of al-Sadr's stature as a major player in Iraqi politics.
Also, the presence of so many Shiite demonstrators — most of them from the Mahdi Army — adds to tensions in the city that has seen almost daily clashes between Shiite and Sunni extremists. The sectarian violence escalated after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks on Sunnis nationwide.
Tensions were already high over the shooting by U.S. troops of what Iraqi police said was one al-Sadr follower while he was on his way to Baghdad on Thursday. Police said he was shot after he brandished a weapon. However, American officials said two people were shot dead by U.S. troops, describing them as terrorists.
Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told a Senate committee in Washington Thursday that sectarian violence in Iraq "is probably as bad as I have seen it" and that if the spiral continued the country "could move toward civil war."
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the sentiment.
"We do have the possibility of that devolving into civil war," Pace told the hearing.
In the latest violence Friday, security forces and gunmen exchanged fire for several hours in Mosul. One policeman died and eight people, including seven policemen, were injured, said Dr. Baha al-Din al-Bakri of the Mosul General Hospital. A seven-hour curfew was imposed.
Also Friday, a car bomb hit an Iraqi police patrol in Mosul, killing a police colonel and his two bodyguards, said Mosul police spokesman, Saad Abdellah al-Jubouri.
Gunmen shot and killed four people and wounded eight from a Shiite family late Thursday in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, police Lt. Hussam al-Dujeili, said.
———
Associated Press correspondents Vijay Joshi, Sameer N. Yacoub and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.
Good thing we "liberated" them, eh Neocons?:)