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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Authorities Fail to Seal Off Kufa |
| 2004-09-04 |
| Iraqi authorities failed to stop worshippers from entering Kufa on the first Friday after a peace deal between the government and Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr as France waited for news on two of its kidnapped journalists. Worshippers set up a makeshift pulpit on the street outside the Kufa Mosque, streaming into the city on foot and ignoring authorities who tried to block traffic because they apparently feared the sermons might spark unrest. Iraqi police and national guardsmen set up checkpoints, barring all cars from entering the city and limiting the number of worshippers allowed in for the Friday prayers. But the people went anyway, getting out of their cars and streaming into the city in hopes of hearing a sermon by Sadr. Police and soldiers deployed around the mosque, which shut down last week after militants pulled out of it as part of the peace deal. A banner erected around the structure read "The Kufa Mosque has been closed for maintenance and cleanup." Though Sadr abandoned plans to preach apparently in fear of exacerbating tensions, about 2,000 of his followers held the prayers on the street in front of the mosque, setting up a pulpit on the median strip. Despite the peace deal in Najaf, many members of Sadr's militia are thought to have returned with their weapons to their Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City and the cleric's representatives and Iraq's interim government have been seeking common ground to end fighting there. Jaber Al-Khafaji delivered Sadr's sermon on his behalf, condemning the kidnapping of the journalists and urging their quick release. |
| Posted by:Fred |