Iraqi Sunnis warn of holy war if US troops stay on

Daily Times ^ | Saturday April 26,2003 | AFP

[miltonim]

Iraqi Sunnis warn of holy war if US troops stay on

BAGHDAD: Hundreds of worshippers at a leading Sunni mosque in Baghdad on Friday denounced the American occupation of Iraq and vowed to launch a holy war if the troops did not withdraw soon.

“We are running out of patience with the Americans here,” said Ammar al-Azami after prayers at the Abu Hanifa mosque, long a stronghold of loyalists to the ousted Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. “The Americans won’t leave because they are after our oil, water and land. They also want to settle here to protect Israel,” he said. “But they’re wrong to believe they’ll succeed and that we’ll stay silent. We are waiting for a fatwa [religious decree] from our ulemas [religious scholars] to fight back,” he warned. “They don’t respect anything, not our land, not our people. They even shelled this mosque. We’re keeping quiet only because our ulemas have asked us to.” The mosque, in Baghdad’s northern Al-Azhamieh neighbourhood, was shelled by American forces on April 9 during fierce fighting with Saddam loyalists after the former Iraqi president was spotted in the area. Last week, around 10,000 marchers gathered outside the mosque to protest the American presence.

Banners on the mosque’s wall read: “Pull out tanks, don’t provoke people” and “No to Shiism, no Sunnism, yes to Islamic unity”. “The Americans came here to liberate us from Saddam, it’s fine, but now what? There is no security, no electricity and chaos has taken over,” said Ibrahim, another worshipper. “Our silence won’t last. The day our ulemas tell us to fight, the Iraqi people, Sunnis and Shiites united will rise in arms.” Another man in the crowd, referring to suicide bombers who carry out anti-Israeli attacks, shouted: “We have weapons, we will blow ourselves up like the Palestinians.” “There will be 100 Osama bin Ladens here if the Americans don’t pull out,” threatened another angry man, in reference to the Saudi billionaire who heads the Al Qaeda terror network.

The men also said a government of Iraqi exiles imposed by the United States was unacceptable. “Who are these people from outside? A five-star opposition made in the USA,” charge Saber al-Alami. “We have capable people inside Iraq; they will make themselves known when the time is ripe,” he said, declining, however, to name anybody in Iraq’s indigenous opposition. We must unite beyond our religious differences, we must form a government from inside,” said Ala Hussein. —AFP

[Steve Van Doorn]

how many times have they entered a holy war against us now?
I never knew the war was over.

[HamiltonJay]

Looks like we're gonna send some more middle eastern equivalents of gang bangers to their 72 virgins soon... gotta love it. Crabs in a bucket... watching these ignorant eat their own.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Maybe someday the will declare there will not be a holy war.

[lavrenti]

This just means after we're done there will be more beer for the Kurds and Shia.

Word up to Islamics: don't invoke threats if you can't do much more than "Jackass: The Movie" antics.

The bluster of Arabs ranks up there with that of the town drunk.

[toddst]

Maybe someday the will declare there will not be a holy war.

It appears they can't help themselves. Sounds like they can come up with a good, solid list of 72 ways to die.

[LasVegasMac]

Sunni mosque in Baghdad - “We are running out of patience with the Americans here,” said Ammar al-Azami after prayers at the Abu Hanifa mosque, long a stronghold of loyalists to the ousted Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.

CLEAN UP - Sunni isle, CLEAN UP - Sunni isle, please.

So these guys are the ones I saw in the picture! The picture where they were holding signs saying, "We are idiots!" "Bomb us next!" "Please come and kick our A$$!"

I was wondering who they were.

LVM

[MEG33]

Pakistan news source.They wouldn't overplay the problem>NAH

[Imagine]

IMHO, it was going to happen sooner or later. Better now than later.

[xm177e2]

We are running out of patience with the Americans here

Sounds like a CNN military analyst... it's been what, less than one month since the end of the war? Give us a little time to sort things out. If you drive us out, we'll just have to let the radical Shi'ites take over... and they will be holding a grudge from the days when Saddam terrorized them, with the help of his Sunni clansmen.

[noutopia]

These people are as ungrateful as the Frence.

[Im Your Huckleberry]

Keep it up a@@holes...I'm sure we have a few JDAM and MOAB's left in our arsenal...

[RightWhale]

We are running out of patience with the Americans here

The Americans just got there. Check back later.

[RLK]

This is a no-win situation. New nuts are taking the place of the old nuts. Let's get the hell out and let them kill each other. That area of the world should be sealed off with the caveat that anyone poking their nose across their borders or developing weapons will get bombed.

[lavrenti]

Somebody needs to go over to Ammar al-Azami and pull his underpants over his head while another videotapes it.

[Bars4Bill]

“There will be 100 Osama bin Ladens here if the Americans don’t pull out,” threatened another angry man, in reference to the Saudi billionaire who heads the Al Qaeda terror network.

Correction: headedthe Al Qaeda terror network until we killed the p.o.s.

[Axman4]

The men also said a government of Iraqi exiles imposed by the United States was unacceptable. “Who are these people from outside? A five-star opposition made in the USA,” charge Saber al-Alami. “We have capable people inside Iraq; they will make themselves known when the time is ripe,” he said, declining, however, to name anybody in Iraq’s indigenous opposition. We must unite beyond our religious differences, we must form a government from inside,” said Ala Hussein.
Baghdad Bob is back!

[45Auto]

The Sunnis are now a helpless minority. For decades they were on top as Saddamite helpers, ruling through the brutality of a police state. This is pretty big talk from a guy who's a** has been temporarily saved by the continued presence of the US/Brit military.

[noutopia]

Frence= French

[The_Media_never_lie]

It appears they can't help themselves. Sounds like they can come up with a good, solid list of 72 ways to die.

Apparently they are slow learners. Sam is a good teacher.