MakeHeadline.com: [kanoshia] Mass anti-US rally held in Iraq

http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=234708&n=35

2007/04/09

Mass anti-US rally held in Iraq

03:14:49 È.Ù
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis participated in an anti-American demonstration in the holy city of Najaf on Monday on the fourth anniversary of America's 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Huge crowds of men, women and children holding Iraqi flags and anti-American banners massed in Najaf and the nearby city of Kufa to protest against the American occupation of Iraq.

Since the occupation, rampant bloodshed and chaos has struck Iraq. Demonstrators are marching from Kufa to Najaf's central Sadrain Square.

Hundreds of banners saying "Down with Bush, Down with America" were carried by protestors.

Many people, draped in Iraqi flags, set American flags ablaze and some trampled on flags of America and the Zionist regime painted on the ground.

"In four years of occupation, our sons have been killed and women made widows," cried Ahmed al-Mayahie, 39, a citizen from the southern city of Basra.

"The occupier raised slogans saying Iraq is free, Iraq is liberated. What freedom? What liberation? There is nothing but destruction. We do not want their liberation and their presence. We tell them to get out of our land."

Lawmaker Falah Hassan Shanshil from Moqtada Sadr's parliamentary bloc said: "This crowd has come to reject the American occupation and demand its withdrawal."

On Sunday, Moqtada Sadr issued a statement calling the Iraqis to unite against the occupying American military.

Sadr urged local security forces not to support the "occupier because it is your enemy."

"Iraq has had enough bloodshed. The occupation forces led by the biggest evil, America, is working to sow dissent either directly or through its agents."

sam

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Iraqis converge for Anti-US rally in Najaf

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09/04/2007 Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis burned and trampled on US flags on Monday as they gathered in the holy city of Najaf for an anti-American rally. Large crowds of men, women and children holding Iraqi flags and anti-US banners massed in Najaf and the nearby twin city of Kufa to protest against US occupation of Iraq. The Iraqi demonstrators are marching from Kufa to Najaf's central Sadrain Square where top aides of Cleric Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr are expected to address the crowds.
Hundreds of banners saying "Down with Bush, Down with America" could be seen in the crowd as Iraqi police and army soldiers guarded key checkpoints in and around Najaf and Kufa.
On Sunday, Sayyed al-Sadr reiterated his call to unite against the US occupation and end clashes between his Mahdi Army fighters and security forces in the central city of Diwaniyah.
"He appeals to the Iraqi army and the Mahdi militia not to fall into America's trap by fighting in Diwaniyah," said a statement stamped and issued by Sadr's Najaf office on his behalf.
Calling for unity against US troops, Sadr urged local forces not to support the "occupier because it is your enemy". In the capital Baghdad security was tight.
A 24-hour vehicle curfew was in place and all Baghdad's key roads and bridges were deserted as people remained indoor for fear of attacks.