| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Sadr’s demands |
| 2004-04-10 |
| Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr...issued demands to the coalition through his deputy on Saturday. Al-Sadr accuses the coalition of starting the violence, and said the coalition’s shutdown of a pro-Sadr newspaper was the catalyst. Clerical deputy Sheikh Raed al-Kadhim, interviewed by CNN, said the al-Sadr people "have a peaceful position" and al-Sadr is a peaceful man...Al-Sadr had called on his followers Friday to go on a three-day hunger strike if they choose as a protest to their treatment by the coalition, al-Kadhim said. "The attacks began by the occupying forces. It all started with the false accusations and the shutdown of the Al Hawza newspaper," al-Kadhim said, referring to Coalition Provisional Authority administrator Paul Bremer’s two-month shutdown of the Baghdad newspaper, published by al-Sadr supporters, for inciting violence. Al-Kadhim said coalition forces "have killed innocent people, women, and children...and still our position remains one that is trying to be peaceful, but they don’t let us. The occupying forces have attacked al-Kufa, Najaf, here in Baghdad, and in many other cities, and they are the ones who initiated everyone of those attacks by the orders of (President) Bush and everyone till the last official representative they have here."..."We are in the position of defending ourselves against all those who confront us," al-Kadhim said. "What are we supposed to do when the helicopters shoot at us? We say and we advise that all they need to do is to stop what they are doing and this problem will be solved."...But al-Kadhim said al-Sadr is a "symbol" of the Iraqi people and all attacks again him are wrong. "They still threaten to arrest Sayid Muqtada al-Sadr and make false accusations against him. They say that Sayid Muqtada al-Sadr is representing a minority but I am telling you that Sayid Muqtada has an army of 26 million people and anyone who accuses him or attacks him is attacking and accusing all of the Iraqi people," Al-Kadhim said. "Muqtada has not ever committed attacks against anybody he has always been a symbol of peace and he always says that he is responsible for the safety of all demonstrations. Al-Kadhim passed along these demands from al-Sadr. Referring to the Iraqi people, he said "I demand in your name": "To get back the voice of Iraq and for the previous dictator and have Saddam Hussein tried in a Supreme Court. "For a stop to this terrorism and to release all those of al-Sadr followers who have been arrested. They are not guilty of anything but accepting Allah. "Not to bury the voice of the Iraqi people under the ground of the politicians and the diplomats. You must organize an Iraqi constitutional government away from these occupation forces or any other wing. "To choose who you want and not to let anyone impose on you who your leader is. "The investigation of the crimes of the occupation forces and bring justice to those who have committed the crimes. "A guaranteed date of departure of the occupying forces. |
| Posted by:Rafael |
| #8 Who the fuck does this guy think he is? He is only a murdering thug with delusions.... We better not start negociating with him.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-04-10 10:29:11 PM |
| #7 U.S. to Sadr: We've got some demands of our own. Drop dead. Fuck you, your minions, and the camels you rode in on. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-04-10 10:20:55 PM |
| #6 Sure we can negotiate.........we can negotiate your unconditional surrender. If that's not good enough for you we can negotiate your death by direct or indirect fire. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-04-10 10:13:35 PM |
| #5 If the press reports of the IGC negotiating with Sadr are true, it is crystal clear they're not capable of running Iraq. France or Spain, maybe, but not Iraq. They wouldn't last 2 months against a hard case. Pray tell, who empowered them to negotiate? The last time I checked, they are not only not yet the civil administrators of Iraq, they most certainly do not control the security aspect. Nor will they anytime soon. What A Load. We don't want a ceasefire with the Fallujahn Sunnis nor do we want one with Sadr's Wadhi Wrmy. Sure, it's tough going, but it is a 24K golden opportunity to kill these people. All negotiations are a joke - they'll never meet their obligations and their word isn't worth warm spit. Kill them now, while we have the obvious reason and will to do so. If we allow any of these cretins to escape Fallujah or if we cut some kind of deal with Sadr, we are repeating precisely the same mistake that we made by declaring an end to the war before we had fought and killed these people. And it will come back to haunt us yet again. Stupid. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-10 9:15:08 PM |
| #4 Let's not forget this guy is a murderer of political rivals, his thugs terrorized the police and neighborhoods, bombed businesses and stored he considered immoral, and he's secretly back up by Iran to promote revolution after June 30th. This guy wants to be the new dictator, don't fall for this sweet talk. |
| Posted by: CobraCommnader 2004-04-10 9:00:59 PM |
| #3 Really, its not our fault. The Devil made me do it. Blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah blahblahblahblahblahblah ad infanuaseum |
| Posted by: Cheddarhead 2004-04-10 7:05:50 PM |
| #2 Of course, he's not going to come out and say that he's an agent of Hamas or Hezbollah... except last week he did... but now he wants to claim to be the Voice of the Popular Resistance? I guess whatever plays on the allegedly western news networks. When do we get real news networks of our own? |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-04-10 6:47:32 PM |
| #1 Crap. This is hard to read. If one of the editors could do a better job, please do so. Thanks. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-04-10 5:57:16 PM |