***** Protesters pour from the mosques to reclaim the streets for Islam Jonathan Steele in Baghdad Saturday April 19, 2003 The Guardian
Iraq's huge political differences erupted into the open in the capital yesterday as tens of thousands of religious protesters called on the US to leave the country even as Washington's closest protege, Ahmad Chalabi, told a press conference that "the moral imperative is on the US to provide leadership and the Iraqi people will accept it".
On the second Muslim day of prayer since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, thousands of worshippers poured out of the mosques and marched through Baghdad's predominantly Sunni al-Azameyah neighbourhood. They chanted both anti-American and anti-Saddam slogans.
Shia clerics in Baghdad and the spiritual capital of Najaf have called in recent days for an Islamic state and yesterday's protest could have become a Sunni counter-demonstration. Roughly 60% of Iraqis are Shia while Sunnis have traditionally ruled the country.
But the marchers yesterday called for national unity among the country's Sunnis and Shias, as well as the Kurds. "No to America, No to Saddam! Our revolution is Islamic," some chanted. Others carried banners in English and Arabic, reading: "Leave our country. We want peace" and "We reject American hegemony".
As the demonstrators moved forward with Korans, prayer mats and banners they met a dozen American marines coming from the opposite direction. The protesters began waving their right fists in the air and chanting, "America is God's enemy". The troops turned into an alley and there was no confrontation.
It was the city's biggest protest since US forces captured Baghdad nine days ago. The organisers called themselves the Iraqi National United Movement and said they represented both Muslim communities. One of the biggest columns came from Abi Hanifah Nouman mosque, whose dome was smashed by an American bomb during the three-week war.
In his sermon the imam, Ahmed al-Kubaisi, said the US had invaded Iraq to defend Israel. He denied Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Washington's main argument for attacking Iraq. "This is not the America we know, which respects international law, respects the right of people," he said.
One protester said: "We will give the American troops a few months to leave Iraq. If they do not, we will fight them with knives."
A statement issued by the movement and signed by Imam al-Kubaisi said: "Our movement wants every Iraqi to take part in rebuilding Iraq and set up a new modern state." It also urged Iraqis to oppose the "federal government that the US wants to set up in the next few days"....
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,939619,00.html> *****
***** New York Times April 19, 2003 A Cleric Assumes a Bully Pulpit By CHARLIE LeDUFF
KUT, Iraq, April 18 - Try as they might, the American military commanders here cannot outfox Sayed Abbas.
Mr. Abbas, 52, was the first to arrive at city hall last week after Kut fell to the Americans. A Shiite Muslim preacher, he immediately declared himself the elected mayor of the city, though no election seems to have taken place.
He has taken up residence amid the chandeliers, marble and mahogany of city hall and is surrounded by legions of zealous supporters, an exclusively male population that grows larger by the day.
The frustrated Americans have referred to the chain-smoking cleric as a clown, a false prophet, a sham holy man, a boob. But the more they slander him, the mightier his stature and his message of resistance to American domination seem to become.
"Iraq cannot be unified until it is governed by its people," Mr. Abbas told 1,000 people in the compound this afternoon before midday prayers. "To this end, we will sacrifice ourselves."
Mr. Abbas has become an embarrassment to the Americans, who are supposed to be in control of the country. But it is not entirely so. For instance his men control the checkpoint along the road that leads from Kut to Nasiriya.
The cleric has become a spectacle. City officials have begun paying homage to him. Iraqis returning from exile in Iran stop in Kut for an audience with him. They carry banners that say: "Freedum Yes. Occupy No."
It seems that the more Mr. Abbas's presence grows, the slipperier the Americans' grip on power and the good will of Kut residents becomes. In front of the destroyed grand mosque today, more than 5,000 gathered in prayer, an offense punishable by torture just a month ago. But rather than hail the forces that had made such gatherings possible, the cleric called for resistance against the dividers, an oblique reference to the Americans.
Mr. Abbas is a local leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a political party that was outlawed under Saddam Hussein and that has ties to Iran. Ayatollah Muhammad Bakar Hakim, the council's leader, is said by his spokesman to be planning a trip to Kut with the specific intention of encouraging Mr. Abbas.
Among the throng inside the city hall compound, which has come to resemble an American campus sit-in, are members of Hezbollah and other radical Shiite militants like the Badr Corps and Al Dawa Party that also fought futilely against Mr. Hussein's secret police.
American soldiers stormed the city hall compound earlier this week and removed a cache of semiautomatic rifles. Two men inside the compound today said they were surprised then but would be ready next time. They said would be willing to use themselves as suicide bombers against the Americans if they dared to enter the compound again.
American Special Forces soldiers who frequent the hotel lobby here, drinking coffee and napping in the foyer, say they considered killing Mr. Abbas but have since thought better of it. Col. Ron Johnson, a commander of American marines in the sector, says the Americans have taken a wait-and-see approach.
"Abbas is a clown, but he remains a concern to us," Colonel Johnson said. "We've taken the attitude that if we ignore him for the time being, he might go away."
But he is too powerful to ignore. The Americans have invited Mr. Abbas to a meeting tomorrow of the local tribal and religious leaders in hopes that some sort of administrative body can be formed to oversee public works....
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/19/international/worldspecial/19CLER.html> ***** -- Yoshie
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