Posted on 10/31/2003 10:47:29 AM PST by TexKat
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq - Amid burst of gunfire and prayer, Iraqi rioters waving portraits of Saddam Hussein battled U.S. troops and tanks on Friday, when a dispute over a marketplace outside Baghdad exploded into anti-American fury. Two Iraqis were killed, and 17 others and two U.S. soldiers were reported wounded.
Farther west in Fallujah, a center of the anti-U.S. resistance, an explosion and fire struck the office of the mayor, who has cooperated with the U.S. occupation. In a melee that followed, one Iraqi was killed, and later Friday U.S. troops came under attack at the same spot.
An Islamic clergymen's association, meanwhile, issued a statement for Friday prayer congregations denouncing as sinful any Muslim's support for the Americans. "Supporting them is apostasy," it said, " ... a betrayal of religion."
Rumors spread through Baghdad that bombings or other resistance action would strike the capital on Saturday. A street leaflet attributed to the ousted Baathists declared it would be "the day of establishing the Iraqi resistance," and also called for a three-day general strike to begin Saturday.
As a result, U.S. officials urged Americans in the Iraqi capital to "maintain a high level of vigilance."
The fresh violence flared as U.S. forces contended with an upsurge in the six-month-old campaign of ambushes and bombings by the shadowy resistance forces, who now strike almost three dozen times a day, mostly in central Iraq. In one typical attack, a bomb exploded Friday morning near an 82nd Airborne Division patrol outside Khaldiyah, west of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding four others, the U.S. military reported.
The U.S. command is grappling with unanswered questions of who is behind the harassing attacks, how coordinated they are, and how to bring them under control. American officials variously blame diehard Saddam loyalists, foreign and local Islamic extremists, and even released criminals, and some suggest the fugitive ex-president may be plotting some attacks.
Before dawn on Friday, U.S. troops sealed off Saddam's birthplace village of Uja, 95 miles north of Baghdad, where relatives and Baath Party adherents have long been suspected of maintaining contacts with the ousted leader.
The 4th Infantry Division troops ringed the village with razor wire, set up exit checkpoints, and began issuing identity cards to villagers in order to control their movements.
The bloody, on-and-off clashes here in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, broke out Friday morning when U.S. troops tried to clear market stalls from a main road, Iraqi police reported.
The reason for the U.S. action and the sequence of events remained unclear late Friday. But at some early point someone tossed a grenade at U.S. soldiers, slightly wounding two, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Joseph Harrison said at the scene, and mortar rounds fell on a nearby police station.
Young Iraqis threw stones at soldiers and tanks, set tires ablaze, and brandished Saddam portraits, shouting, "Allahu Akbar!" — "God is great!"
Gunfire erupted sporadically, but then the Iraqis retired for midday prayers in nearby mosques. When they returned to the market, gunfire erupted again as more U.S. armored vehicles moved in. Ten explosions and machine-gun fire were heard, and American helicopters hovered overhead.
In late afternoon, the bodies of two Iraqi men — identified by friends as Mohammed Auweid, 45, and Hamid Abdullah, 41 — were carried from the sealed-off area.
"God damn America!" shouted friend Ali Hussein, who said the men were passing by when the Americans opened fire indiscriminately on rock-throwers. "U.S. soldiers are the real terrorists, not us!" he said.
Nearby Shula Hospital received 17 wounded civilians, Dr. Imad Ali said. He said three were in critical condition. The Americans said they arrested two Iraqis in the area found carrying a mortar firing tube.
Some 40 miles to the west, an explosion rocked the center of the city at midday, and thick black smoke billowed from the mayor's office. The town hall had been the target of previous attacks as well, since its leadership began cooperating with the American military last April.
Firemen extinguished the flames, and no casualties were immediately reported, but authorities said one Iraqi was killed and one wounded when nearby residents converged on the scene outraged that their district was again the target of an attack because it was associated with the U.S. occupation. Police shot the man dead during the argument, said civil defense officer Ahmed Khalil.
American armored vehicles, which have been withdrawing from central Fallujah on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer, returned to set up positions after the incident. Late Friday, unknown attackers hit them with an estimated 10 rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, witnesses said. There was no immediate information on any casualties.
Elsewhere, the Sunni Muslim clerics' group, the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, issued a statement that could be read to worshippers across Iraq declaring, "Beware of supporting the occupiers and know that contacting them, without a legitimate necessity, is sinful."
The association is one of several Iraqi clerical groups formed after the U.S.-British invasion force toppled Saddam's regime last April, and its leaders have taken a stand against the U.S. occupation. Saddam's Baath Party found its greatest support in Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland.
In Ramadi, a statement signed by the Islamic Jihad Resistance was posted inside the city's New Mosque calling people not to go outside Saturday and Sunday. "The resistance will carry out new operations," the statement said.
~~~
AP promoting "anti-American fury", while US troops prevented a mob of mischief-makers from gaining the upper hand (imho).
Good job, troops!
~~~
If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
Notice that there are only two dead and it is not stated that they were shot.
HHHHhhhhmmmmm...
Is there some missing information here or are we just hearing unchallanged claims from a protestor with an agenda?
Iraqi police officers rescue an injured comrade during clashes in Fallujah, 40 miles, 65 kilometers, west of Baghdad, after a strong explosion rocked the center of the city, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. Police said that following the explosion, residents shouted at the authorities that their neighborhood had become a target because the U.S.-appointed mayor and other officials worked there. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
An Iraqi policeman runs for cover during clashes between residents of the flashpoint town of Fallujah and policemen guarding the municipal offices.(AFP/Marwan Naamani)
US special forces deploy during clashes in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Gharib.(AFP/Karim Sahib)
U.S. troops pass a burning Iraqi police car after it was set alight at the governor's residence in the town of Falluja, October 31, 2003. Furious Iraqis set the governor's office building ablaze in the restive town after police shot dead a local man nearby, residents said. Photo by Jamal Saidi/Reuters
An Iraqi residents of the flashpoint town of Fallujah, 50 kms (30 miles) west of Baghdad, throws stones at the municipal offices during clashes with policemen(AFP/Marwan Naamani)
U.S. troops stand guard in the street in a break in clashes with Iraqis in Baghdad's suburb of Abu Ghraib, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. The clashes apparently broke out when coalition forces tried to open up a road that had been partly blocked by market stalls. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Young men hurl stones towards Iraqi police officers during clashes in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kms) west of Baghdad, after a strong explosion rocked the center of the city, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. Police said that following the explosion, residents shouted at the authorities that their neighborhood had become a target because the U.S.-appointed mayor and other officials worked there. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Iraqi men gather during clashes with US troops in Baghdad's suburb of Abu Ghraib, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. The clashes apparently broke out when coalition forces tried to open up a road that had been partly blocked by market stalls. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Iraqi youths throw traffic cones onto a blazing police car set alight by the governor's residence in the town of Falluja, October 31, 2003. Furious Iraqis set the governor's office building ablaze in the restive town of Falluja on Friday after police shot dead a local man nearby, residents said. REUTERS/Mohammed Abud
Iraqi men hurl stones during clashes with American troops in Baghdad's suburb of Abu Ghraib, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. The clashes apparently broke out when coalition forces tried to open up a road that had been partly blocked by market stalls. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
Iraqi men confront American troops, arriving with tanks, in Baghdad's suburb of Abu Ghraib, Friday, Oct 31, 2003. The clashes apparently broke out when coalition forces tried to open up a road that had been partly blocked by market stalls. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
A group of Sunni Muslims from Pakistan burn a mock U.S. flag after Friday prayers in Sukkur, 480 km (300 miles) from Karachi, October 31, 2003. The group demanded the immediate withdrawl of U.S.-led forces from Iraq. REUTERS/Jahangir Khan
A group of Sunni Muslims from Pakistan burn a mock U.S. flag after Friday prayers in Sukkur, 480 km (300 miles) from Karachi, October 31, 2003. The group demanded the immediate withdrawl of U.S.-led forces from Iraq . REUTERS/Jahangir Khan
Iraqi shoppers walk past a smoldering marketplace in Baghdad October 31, 2003 which was gutted during a propane tank explosion the night before. Two adjoining buildings were destroyed in the blaze. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police cordon off a street after a suspected booby-trapped car was found a few hundred yards from the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in central Baghdad early Friday Oct. 31, 2003. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
U.S. soldiers cordon off a street after a suspected booby-trapped car was found a few hundred yards from the U.S.-led coalition headquarters in central Baghdad early Friday Oct. 31, 2003. The graffiti behind them in red reads 'Baghdad, be patient. We are determined to liberate you', and below it, in black reads 'We will kill you'. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (L) and a member of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) hold their weapons at a check point at the entrance of al Awja, a village outside Tikrit, October 31, 2003. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved $87.5 billion to pay for the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Leading hardline Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, delivers his sermon, beside a mural of Hosein Fahmideh, right, who was killed at age 13 during the war between Iran and Iraq (news - web sites) (1980-1988), and pictures of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, at the Friday prayers during Islam's holy month of Ramadan in the the Tehran University campus in Iran, Friday, Oct. 31, 2003. Jannati told worshippers that Iran would not respect commitments it hasmade unless Britain, France and Germany keep promises to offer greater cooperation on nuclear energy and nonmilitary technology. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iraqi Abdelsattar Mohammed sells medals awarded by ousted leader Saddam Hussein to former military officials, in Baghdad(AFP/Karim Sahib)
U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch and U.S. Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson are shown together in this handout photograph. Lynch and Johnson, whose ordeals as POWs during the war in Iraq gained national attention, have been named Glamour Magazine's 2003 Women of the Year and will appear in the December issue of the magazine. (AP Photo/Glamour Magazine, Jonathan Skow)
AP=All Propaganda.
Democrats, anarchists, Greens. Anti-victory demonstrators. Same as the ones we have here!
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