NYT:100,000 March Against U.S. and Israel in Baghdad [View All]

[FreeStateDemocrat]

By DAMIEN CAVE and KIRK SEMPLE
Published: August 4, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 4 — More than 100,000 followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched today to show support for Hezbollah, denouncing Israel and the United States for the violence in Lebanon.

Waving Lebanese flags and posters of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, the protesters chanted, “No, no, no, Israel, no, no, no, America,’’ challenged Americans to fight them in their neighborhoods, and called on Hezbollah to strike at Tel Aviv.

The fighting in Lebanon has caused a rift between the United States and the Shiite parties that lead Iraq’s new government, which feel a strong solidarity with Hezbollah, also a Shiite group. Mr. Sadr was one of the first to denounce Israel for the conflict, saying last month that “we will not sit by with folded hands before the creep of Zionism.” He also accused the United States of culpability in the bombardments because of its close relationship with Israel.

More recently, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other leading Shiite figures have strongly condemned Israel for its attacks.

Mr. Sadr’s power has long rested on his ability to mobilize large numbers of Shiite residents of the city’s slums and other cities in the country’s south. Today’s demonstration could be seen as a similar show of force. (cont'd)




http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/world/middleeast/04cnd-iraq.html?hp&ex=1154750400&en=2ed2aa2f410efc99&ei=5094&partner=homepage