Thousands turn up for Iraq rally demanding US soldiers leave
● Supporters of al-sadr protest in wake of general’s drone killing
Thousands of people have rallied in Baghdad to demand American troops leave the country.
The rally came amid heightened anti-us sentiment after a US drone strike earlier this month killed a top Iranian general in the Iraqi capital.
Though their numbers fell short of the “million-man” march called for by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada alsadr, large crowds gathered on the Muslim day of prayers as loudspeakers blasted “No, no America.” at a central square in Baghdad. A child held up a poster reading, “Death to America. Death to Israel.”
Apparently seeking to show control, al-sadr’s supporters did not engage in altercations with security forces or target separate, anti-government protests in neighbour roads ing Tahrir Square, a possibility feared by activists in the lead up to yesterday’s march.
Officials and experts said the rally was the cleric’s attempt to capitalise on brewing antiamerican feeling and show he had the upper-hand on the Iraqi street as negotiations among political elites over who should be the next prime minister stumble on.
In his weekly Friday sermon, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shiite cleric, called on political parties stop stalling and move the talks forward.
“The formation of the new government is constitutionally long overdue, it is necessary for the various parties concerned to cooperate,” alsistani said in a sermon delivered via a representative. “It is an important step toward resolving the current crisis.”
There was a heavy security presence as the protesters, mostly Shiites hailing from the capital but also Iraq’s southern provinces, walked on foot to an assembly point in Baghdad’s Jadriya neighbourhood, waving Iraqi flags and wearing symbolic white shrouds.
Road and bridges leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to several foreign embassies including the US Embassy, were blocked off by concrete barriers. Iraqi security forces stood guard, blocking access to the gates to the zone.
Al-sadr, whose party won the most seats in the May 2018 parliamentary elections, had called for a “million-man” demonstration to demand the withdrawal of American troops following the drone strike near Baghdad’s airport that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-muhandis.
The killing sparked the ire of Iraqi officials from across the political spectrum.
According to us military officials, Americans have poured 20,000 additional troops in the Middle East to counter what Washington describes as an escalating threat from Iran.
There are currently around 5,200 US troops in Iraq, where they work to help train and assist Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State group.
In a statement yesterday, alsadr – whose followers fought US troops after the 2003 invasion to oust dictator Saddam Hussein – issued a list of conditions for American military presence in Iraq, including cancelling existing security agreements, closing US military bases, ending the work of American security companies and closing off access to Iraqi airspace.
If the conditions were met, the statement said, “the resistance will temporarily stop until the last soldier leaves Iraq,” al-sadr said.
“The American forces should leave,” said an 18-yearold protester, Amer Saad. “I am ready to fight against the Americans if Muqtada al-sadr asks us.”
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the Baghdad march was a “countdown” to expelling US forces.
“It indicated that Iraqi people are the flagship on the path of expelling the US from the region,” he said.