Posted on 08/25/2004 9:58:43 AM PDT by TexKat
KUFA, Iraq - Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday killed two people and wounded five others who were taking part in what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration supporting radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Kufa, northeast of Najaf, witnesses and hospital officials said.
Video footage from Associated Press Television News showed demonstrators wounded during a few minutes of heavy gunfire. It was unclear from the footage who was shooting.
Mohammed Abdul Kadhim, an employee at Kufa's Furat al-Awsat Hospital, said two marchers were killed and five wounded.
The marchers chanted slogans in support of al-Sadr and carried pictures of the cleric as well as pictures of Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite leader.
APTN footage showed wounded men being carried away, and one man lying motionless in an ambulance as medics rubbed his chest.
Witnesses said the gunfire appeared to come from an Iraqi National Guard post, which sat behind concrete blast walls along the route. The automatic weapons fire sent the marchers into a panic, with many scurrying for safety and yelling angrily. No one in the crowd could be seen firing a weapon, and it was unclear whether the incident was a gunbattle or an unprovoked attack on the demonstration.
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said Iraqi security forces had "taken all needed measures to prevent any crowds from entering the province," calling it a "military area."
The demonstration by hundreds of apparently unarmed al-Sadr supporters was headed to Najaf from the neighboring city of Kufa, with plans to break the U.S.-led siege there, witnesses said.
The demonstrators' chants praised al-Sadr and condemned interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
"Allawi you are a coward. You are an American collaborator," the demonstrators chanted.
A U.S. military spokesman had no information on the incident.
A tear may fall from my eye...
Supid is as stupid does
Fox News banner says that al-Sadr aides arrested with artifacts from shrine in possession.
Kinda reminds me of that Pali kid who got killed in a crossfile 5-6 years ago. The photos prove that someone on the opposite side of the Israelis shot him. Some fundamentalists have gone from believing in martyrs to creating them from their own populace. I dont doubt that a spokesman on al-jizzera will say, "Hey, we saw Americans do it!"
I can't believe that 2 of the networks are showing the Olympics and the other is talking about the election, when we are closing in the the hottest area in Iraq!
Deplorable... (chuckle-guffaw)
They'll shoot their own to drum up support.
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