Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrate in central Baghdad's Fardus Square to condemn terrorism in their country
Posted on 12/10/2003 12:18:20 PM PST by saquin
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Thousands of Iraqis, some watched over by US Apache helicopters, demonstrated in Baghdad and other cities to condemn "terrorism" in their country.
More than 200 protesters from the Iraqi National Congress and other political parties, women's groups and sheikhs in traditional dress gathered near the National Theatre in Baghdad and marched to a central Baghdad hotel.
"This is the national campaign against terrorism and sabotage," said Abo Thaer, 55, a member of the Iraqi Communist Party. His party members turned out with giant red flags bearing the hammer and sickle.
Participants Wednesday said the rallies marked International Human Rights Day.
A similar protest last Friday in the capital attracted about 1,000 Iraqis.
American-led occupying forces who toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in April are battling daily attacks by insurgents whom they regularly brand terrorists.
On Monday a suicide car bomber wounded 58 US soldiers at their base near the northern capital of Mosul while in Baghdad a bomb killed three worshippers at a Sunni mosque.
"Terrorism .... will delay the process of rebuilding," said Eklass Khudhir, 30, one of four women holding a banner from the Iraqi Women's Organization.
She said it was their first protest against terrorism.
Hussein al-Musaya, a former Iraqi exile who helped organize the rally, said numerous political parties had come together to state their opposition to terorism.
"It's also a message of thanks to the coalition force for liberating Iraq from the dictator," said Musaya, an official with the Liberal Republic Iraqi Party.
"We will not allow the fascists to come back," added Farook al-Shamari, 63.
"I don't belong to any party but I am against terrorism and fascism. We lived under the aggression of fascism for 40 years," he said.
He said he lost his teaching job and was jailed for six months for refusing to join the ruling Baath party in 1979, the year Saddam Hussein gained control of the country.
Qutaiba Khalid, and his wife Taghreed Jasin, both 28, said they were representing students as well as the Communist Party.
With a red neckerchief and purple-tinted sunglasses, Khalid said violence "will endanger the lives of innocent people and it will delay the departure of the occupying force."
American helicopters flew above the protesters and at least seven Iraqi police cars were stationed nearby. Several US soldiers watched from a discreet distance away.
More than 2,500 protesters marched in the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala south of Baghdad. They asked for the transfer of security from the coalition to Iraqis.
A banner carried by the demonstrators in Najaf read, "Killing children is not resistance."
Another said: "Saddam Hussein and (Osama) bin Laden are two sides of the same coin."
In the Sunni town of Ramadi west of Baghdad, a hotbed of anti-US sentiment, about 100 people protested after a call by the local council.
They gathered under the protection of American troops while a counter-demonstration of about 70 people carrying photos of the Koran and Mecca threw stones at the Americans. Iraqi police dispersed them.
Other demonstrations also took place in Baqubah just north of Baghdad, and at Suleimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Still, the people in this story that I give the most credit to are the 100 who protested in Ramadi. That took some guts, considering the sympathies of that town.
Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrate in central Baghdad's Fardus Square to condemn terrorism in their country
This is starting to look good!
May it be so, for the sake of Iraq - and the rest of the world.
*****les.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, perhaps ...
Hussein al-Musaya, a former Iraqi exile who helped organize the rally, said numerous political parties had come together to state their opposition to terorism.
"It's also a message of thanks to the coalition force for liberating Iraq from the dictator," said Musaya, an official with the Liberal Republic Iraqi Party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Freedom, ping!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Iraqi boy holds a donkey puppet representing ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during a protest against terrorism in central Baghdad December 10, 2003. An Iraqi war crimes tribunal will try Hussein in absentia the head of the U.S.-backed Governing Council said Wednesday. The United States will hand over key members of Iraq's former regime to face the special tribunal, established on Wednesday. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
BAGHDAD
Iraqi women attend a protest against terrorism in central Baghdad December 10, 2003. The United States will hand over key members of the former Iraqi regime to a special tribunal established on Wednesday, and Saddam Hussein could be tried in absentia, the head of the U.S.-backed Governing Council said. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
People push to the ground a man accused of being a Saddam loyalist, during a march in Baghdad Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003. Thousands, belonging to various political parties, marched to protest recent terrorist attacks in the country. The man was arrested. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
The man was arrested, --- first one up for the tribunal !!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.