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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Al-Sadr Followers Hold Protest Marches |
| 2005-04-08 |
| Gunmen fired on supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday, killing one person and wounding two others as they made their way to protests planned for the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led troops... After dark Friday, al-Sadr supporters marched and chanted through the city, hanging anti-U.S. banners on columns surrounding Firdos Square, where a jubilant crowd pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003, as U.S. troops spread through the capital. Al-Sadr had urged his supporters to gather Saturday at the square, and a group was at the landmark along with police after the 11 p.m. curfew. U.S. and Iraqi officials said they were preparing for Saturday's demonstration. The cleric had kept out of the limelight since his Mahdi Army militiamen accepted truces last year after failed uprisings in the southern city of Najaf and Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. But he has stepped up criticism of the United States in recent weeks, mostly by organizing Saturday's protest. Sunni Muslim clerics also called demonstrations for Saturday to demand that American and other foreign troops leave Iraq. Sheik Hassan al-Edhari, an official at al-Sadr's Baghdad office, said al-Sadr's mainly Shiite followers want the new Iraqi government to set a schedule for pulling out foreign troops and for putting Saddam on trial. During his Friday morning sermon in the capital, the head of an influential Sunni group accused coalition forces of "killing the Iraqi people daily." "We demand that the occupation troops withdraw from Iraq. We don't want them to do it immediately, but we want them to set a timetable for their withdrawal," said Sheik Harith al-Dahri, whose Association of Muslim Scholars is believed to have ties to Iraq's insurgents. But at another Sunni mosque in Baghdad, Sheik Ahmad Hasan al-Taha instructed worshippers to refrain from marking the April 9 anniversary. Al-Taha also called for the release of arrested religious figures, claiming there were more than 90 imams in detention. U.S. military officials said they had nothing planned to mark the anniversary, and refused to comment on security measures. But additional Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Humvees were seen in areas where demonstrations were expected... |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #4 I agree. He's just asking again for what should've been his fate before: short, painful, martyrdom |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-08 7:27:58 PM |
| #3 Dunno, Frank, Tater shoulda' been bagged a long time ago, I humbly submit. |
| Posted by: Sobiesky 2005-04-08 7:22:56 PM |
| #2 so Tater's ready for another whacking (of his fodder, not himself, of course)? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-08 7:19:10 PM |
| #1 I heard on the radio about the Iraqis bumping a couple of them off... |
| Posted by: Fred 2005-04-08 6:52:49 PM |