By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
KUT, Iraq - Dozens of protesters blocked U.S. Marines trying to cross the main bridge over the Tigris River in this southern Iraqi city Wednesday — a more than four-hour standoff sparked by the detentions of two Iraqis.
The incident came after a rock-throwing crowd protesting the American presence here slightly injured a local man working as an interpreter for U.S. civil affairs troops.
The rocks shattered the windshields of at least three Marine vehicles — including trucks carrying medical supplies for local hospitals. Marines fired several warning shots to turn back the demonstrators.
The incidents caused Marines to postpone plans to start foot patrols side-by- side with local police in Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. Marines had seized a police station in Kut earlier in the day.
Marines from Task Force Tarawa entered Kut more than a week ago without opposition, only to find a local Shiite cleric, Said Abbas, had occupied City Hall and claimed control.
U.S. forces say he has links to Iranian groups pushing for Islamic rule, but have abandoned plans to forcibly eject him. Instead they are ignoring him.
Abbas' followers were trying to ensure they weren't ignored Wednesday. About 200 protesters erected makeshift barricades of metal pipes, carts and a chain to block a convoy of about 20 U.S. military vehicles on the Tigris bridge. Built during British colonial rule, the bridge is the landmark gateway to the city and a key traffic artery.
The demonstrators said they were protesting the detentions of two local leaders by U.S. forces.
U.S. Marine officers declined to comment on the detentions. During the protest at the bridge, another Iraqi man was seen being detained by U.S. forces at their headquarters in the city, hands bound behind his back and a hood over his head.
With Huey and Cobra helicopters swooping low overhead, protesters at the bridge chanted "Go home, America," while Marines, some with bayonets fixed to their M-16 rifles, faced them.
The protesters turned away from the Marines to face Mecca for midday prayers, responding to a prayer call cried out by one of the men.
Gunnery Sgt. William Sweeney of Loveland, Colo., told the protesters they wouldn't win any releases through their actions. "If this doesn't work, then we're going to move you by force," he warned.
After more than four hours on the bridge, the Iraqi men heard one of the detained men had been released. They let the convoy pass.
As the protest disbanded, one Iraqi man hysterically called out to U.S. troops, telling them "Leave!" and saying "We need freedom!" Another man rubbed his index fingers together and shouted "Saddam and U.S.A. — they're friends!"
Capt. Samuel Bakion reached under his flak vest to pull out his dogtag chain, which was also strung through his wedding band. He showed it to the Iraqis, telling them his wife was waiting for him back home in Minneapolis.
"I want to leave," Bakion told the protesters. "I want to go back to America."