Thousands of Sadr followers protest security pact in Baghdad

2008-11-21 20:10:53

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) --

Thousands of followers of Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets in central Baghdad on Friday to protest a U.S.-Iraqi security deal under tight security measures.

    They gathered since the morning at the Sa'adoon Street and took their way to the Firdus Square where they prayed, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The demonstration which was carried out after Friday noon prayers at the square in the thoroughfare of Sa'adoun was called last week by Sadr who has strongly opposed any deal with the United States.

    Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area, blocking all the roads leading to the route of the demonstration, the source said.

    During the demonstration, Abdul Hadi al-Muhammadawi, a Muslim cleric read a statement on behalf of Sadr in front of the protesters, confirming the unity between Shi'is and Sunnis in Iraq and the rally would be carried out peacefully to "express Iraqis' objection to the security agreement."

    "I reiterate my demands to the occupier to leave the darling Iraq without signing deals or establishing bases," Sadr said in the statement recited by Muhammadawi.

    Sadr vowed in the statement not to direct weapons but only against the "occupiers," hoping that the Iraqi security forces will not harm the "honest resistance."

    One of the protesters told Xinhua that the demonstration was one of the largest demonstrations in which protestors held up large banners denouncing the security pact.

    Protestors were chanting "No, no, to America. No, no for signing the deal," "Iraq won't be an American colony," and "the occupiers' withdrawal is the only way to implementing security in Iraq," the protestor said.

    The demonstration came a day after the Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that it is still possible for the Iraqi parliament to pass the security pact that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for another three years.

    "I think chances still exist for the parliament to pass the agreement. They still have few decisive days," Zebari told reporters during a joint news conference with the visiting Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini.

    On Monday, Zebari and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker initially signed the long-awaited Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

    According to the Iraqi law, the draft pact must be passed through the parliament and then the presidency council to be valid.

    During the signing ceremony, Zebari said that "The final word would be for the parliament, where there is positive atmosphere among the political leaders."

    On Sunday, the Iraqi cabinet almost unanimously approved the SOFA and another agreement of bilateral cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

    For months, the two countries were at odds over the agreement, which the United States needs as a legitimate support for the station of its troops beyond 2008 after the current UN mandate ends on Dec. 31.

Editor: Yao

Bush burned: effigy destroyed in Iraqi protest

Russia Today, November 21, 2008, 22:45

Thousands of protestors against the U.S. presence in Iraq have burned an effigy of President George Bush in the same square where they toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein five years ago.

Most of the protestors were followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, who view the American military as occupiers.

The demonstration comes after two days of heated protest in parliament by al-Sadr loyalists and other small parties arguing that the new security pact, which would ensure a U.S. presence in Iraq for three more years, was a "surrender to U.S. interests".

In a remarkable turn of events, the effigy, with a banner standing next to it reading "shame and humiliation", was placed on the very site where fallen dictator Saddam Hussein's statue stood. It was torn down by U.S. marines and Iraqis in one of the most iconic moments of the Iraq war.

Protestors stoned the effigy with water bottles and sandals. One man used his shoe to strike Bush's face. Eventually the image fell and was stamped on before being set alight. Crowds chanted and waved flags while the effigy burned.

Security was extremely tight, with Army snipers present and al-Sadr loyalists all around as well.

Al-Sadr's representative read a sermon calling the US "an enemy of Islam" and urging parliament not to pass the new security pact.

"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out, all the Iraqi people will stand by it," read the sermon.

Among the crowds were protestors holding banners reading "No, no to the agreement of humiliation".

If the pact passes through parliament it will go to the president and his two deputies for signing.