Iraqi leader Moqtada Al-Sadr condemned the US construction of a wall around a Baghdad district and calls for demonstrations against it. Sadr's remarks were the first by the Mahdi Army head since the US military said last week that it was building a wall in Baghdad's Sunni Adhamiyah district. The Shia cleric said on Wednesday that the protests showed that Iraqis reject "the sectarian, racist and unjust wall that seeks to divide" Sunnis and Shias. He described it as "the evil wall" of the American occupiers. Urging Iraqis to stage a demonstration, Al-Sadr said, "I am confident that such honorable voices will bring down the wall. We the people of Iraq will defend Adhamiya and other neighborhoods that you (Americans) want to segregate from us. We will stand hand in hand with you (Sunnis) to demonstrate and protect our holy land."
Sunni and Shia protesters in Adhamiyah carried banners on Monday with slogans such as "No to the sectarian wall" and "Adhamiya children want to see Baghdad without walls". But the US military says it plans to construct barriers in other neighborhoods too, saying it wants to protect people from bombings and other sectarian attacks. Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki have already criticized the US military's action, saying it will only fuel sectarian tensions in the strife-torn capital.