Murmurs of Shiite Revolution in Iraq
April 17, 2003 - Report by YellowTimes.org
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Report by YellowTimes.org
NewsFromtheFront.org

TORONTO (NFTF.org) -- Al Jazeera has been broadcasting increasing numbers of demonstrations in Iraq. However, these have not been as welcoming as U.S. policy makers would have liked.

In Baghdad, 20,000 Iraqis took to the central square and faced off against U.S. Marines patrolling the area.
"USA, don't stay - GO!" and other signs calling on U.S. forces to withdraw were visible as Iraqis chanted against U.S. plans for Iraq. Canada's CBC reports that the protests are now in their fourth day. Witnesses in Baghdad say the number of demonstrators are growing.

Popular chants such as "With our souls, with our blood we sacrifice for you O Iraq" replaced the familiar "Hello mister, hello U.S.A." once heard late last week.

In Basra, 30,000 Shiites took to the streets chanting the Imam Ali's name and protesting against a new administration. (Ali is the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed and the fourth caliph of Islam; he was murdered in Iraq in 660 A.D. The Shiite sect of Islam maintains that Ali should have been the first caliph.)

In Karbala, some 40,000 Shiites barricaded streets and highways vowing to run their city in the manner of their choosing, and not according to U.S. dictates.

In Nasiriyah, 60,000 mostly Shiite Arabs continued protesting for a second day against a U.S.-sponsored meeting of appointed opposition figures held yesterday. The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (SCIRI), Iraq's most popular Shiite opposition group, had boycotted the meeting and pledged solidarity with the Iraqi people.

In Mosul, a demonstration against a U.S.-appointed governor turned deadly as U.S. Marines fired into a crowd of 3,000, killing up to 10 and wounding 200. Four Iraqi police officers were among the dead, says Al Jazeera.

A police chief told Al Jazeera: "The Americans are cowards and they fired into the crowd because they were scared. They are simply cowards."

"Why are we protesting? Because we want freedom. America is oppressing us -- they are denying us our freedoms," said one turbaned Mislawi of the Yazidi tribes. "None of the people of Mosul want this man as governor but the Americans want to impose their will on us. This is not freedom," he told Al Jazeera.

www.YellowTimes.org correspondent Firas Al-Atraqchi drafted this report.



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