Iraqis in anti-US protest

NAJAF – Fiery Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s call for a big anti-US protest yesterday was answered by thousands of Iraqis who flocked to the southern holy city of Najaf.

Sadr, who blames the US-led invasion for Iraq’s unrelenting violence, issued a statement on Sunday urging Iraqis to protest on the fourth anniversary of the day US forces swept into central Baghdad. “In order to end the occupation, you will go out and demonstrate,” said Sadr, who had been keeping a low profile in the last few weeks.The US military says Sadr, who is popular among Iraq’s urban Shi’ite Muslim poor, is in neighbouring Iran.His aides say the cleric is in Iraq and have denied suggestions he fled to Iran to escape a security crackdown in Baghdad.Thousands of Shi’ites travelled in buses or cars to Najaf in response to Sadr’s call.The Baghdad-Najaf road was packed with hundreds of vehicles crammed with passengers waving Iraqi flags and chanting religious and anti-US slogans.”No, no, no to America …Moqtada, yes, yes, yes,” they chanted as they converged on the holy city.Sadr called on his Mehdi Army militia and Iraqi security forces to stop fighting in the volatile city of Diwaniya so as not to play into the hands of US forces, who he said had stirred up civil strife in Iraq.Iraqi and US forces have clashed with militiamen in Diwaniya since launching an operation on Friday to wrest control of the southern city from the Mehdi Army.The Pentagon says Sadr’s militia is the greatest threat to peace in Iraq.Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the US-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad, said a 24-hour vehicle ban would be in force in the capital yesterday.”There will be protests marking the fourth anniversary.We don’t want to give the terrorists a chance to use this opportunity,” Moussawi said.What largely began as a Sunni Arab insurgency against US and Iraqi forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq has since widened into a sectarian conflict between the country’s Shi’ite majority and Sunnis, once dominant under Saddam Hussein.Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the past year alone.More than 3 270 US soldiers have been killed since the US-led invasion.A car bomb killed 17 people and wounded two dozen in the town of Mahmudiya south of Baghdad on Sunday, officials said.A suicide car bomber killed seven people in Baghdad.Nampa-Reuters”In order to end the occupation, you will go out and demonstrate,” said Sadr, who had been keeping a low profile in the last few weeks.The US military says Sadr, who is popular among Iraq’s urban Shi’ite Muslim poor, is in neighbouring Iran.His aides say the cleric is in Iraq and have denied suggestions he fled to Iran to escape a security crackdown in Baghdad.Thousands of Shi’ites travelled in buses or cars to Najaf in response to Sadr’s call.The Baghdad-Najaf road was packed with hundreds of vehicles crammed with passengers waving Iraqi flags and chanting religious and anti-US slogans.”No, no, no to America …Moqtada, yes, yes, yes,” they chanted as they converged on the holy city.Sadr called on his Mehdi Army militia and Iraqi security forces to stop fighting in the volatile city of Diwaniya so as not to play into the hands of US forces, who he said had stirred up civil strife in Iraq.Iraqi and US forces have clashed with militiamen in Diwaniya since launching an operation on Friday to wrest control of the southern city from the Mehdi Army.The Pentagon says Sadr’s militia is the greatest threat to peace in Iraq.Brigadier Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the US-Iraqi security crackdown in Baghdad, said a 24-hour vehicle ban would be in force in the capital yesterday.”There will be protests marking the fourth anniversary.We don’t want to give the terrorists a chance to use this opportunity,” Moussawi said.What largely began as a Sunni Arab insurgency against US and Iraqi forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq has since widened into a sectarian conflict between the country’s Shi’ite majority and Sunnis, once dominant under Saddam Hussein.Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the past year alone.More than 3 270 US soldiers have been killed since the US-led invasion.A car bomb killed 17 people and wounded two dozen in the town of Mahmudiya south of Baghdad on Sunday, officials said.A suicide car bomber killed seven people in Baghdad.Nampa-Reuters