Wizdom
11-10-03, 14:21
Unrest in Shiite district over attacks
Crowd chants 'No, no America'
Friday, October 10, 2003 Posted: 3:56 PM EDT (1956 GMT)
Iraqi Shiites march after Friday prayers through the streets of Baghdad's Sadr City, site of Thursday's suicide bombing and later ambush on U.S. soldiers.
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CNN's Jane Arraf on how many Iraqis feel six months after the war.
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CNN's Jane Arraf on an apparent suicide car bombing in Baghdad.
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• Life after War
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Anti-U.S. feeling swirled among worshippers and demonstrators Friday in the sprawling Shiite slum where two U.S. soldiers were gunned down and eight Iraqi police officers were killed in a suicide attack a day earlier.
Such violence has so far been rare in the neighborhood, Sadr City, which was a base of anti-Saddam Hussein sentiment.
But the depressed district now may become a center of resistance to the U.S. occupation, and a powerful imam with a huge power base there, Muqtada al-Sadr, has taken an anti-American stand.
On Friday, the Muslim holy day, thousands of Shiites turned out for a funeral for a person who apparently died during an ambush on U.S. troops.
Soldiers were on routine patrol in Sadr City when they were ambushed Thursday night.
Two soldiers from the 1st Armored Division were killed and four were wounded when assailants opened fire with small arms and "unknown heavier weapons," according to a coalition official.
Witnesses and a cleric said two Iraqis died and two others were wounded.
Hours earlier, a suicide bombing killed eight Iraqi police officers in an attack that was the first of its kind in Sadr City. (Full story)
In Friday's street protests, Shiites ritually flagellated themselves, carrying pictures of al-Sadr and chanting, "There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God."
Hundreds of the mourners were carrying weapons.
As many as 6,000 worshippers gathered in front of the Sadr City municipal offices near the ambush site for Friday prayers and a sermon was delivered by an al-Sadr aide, Sheikh Abdel-Hadi al-Daraji.
"America claims to be the founder of freedom and democracy. That is wrong. Instead, it is nothing but a terrorist organization that leads the world through its terrorism and its reckless arrogance," the cleric said.
"It is forbidden for the American forces to enter Sadr City, especially for the next few days because the sons of Sadr City reject their presence."
The crowds chanted "No, No America!" There were armed guards protecting the clerics and the worshippers, many incensed about the American military presence and the Thursday night incident.
One military official disputed reports that the U.S. troops were embarking on a raid.
"This was a routine patrol that was lured into a specific area with the idea of humanitarian assistance and then ambushed. And from our reports, it was a deliberate and planned ambush. This was not a hasty act," said Lt. Col. George Krivo, Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman.
Soldiers were attacked by small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices.
Krivo said there is no proof of any Iraqis killed during the ambush.
An Army quick reaction force went to the scene and helped remove the patrol.
Also Thursday -- which marked six months since U.S. troops rolled into Baghdad -- a rocket-propelled grenade attack killed a 4th Infantry Division soldier traveling in a convoy near Ba'qubah, north of Baghdad, around 2 a.m. local time (6 p.m. EDT Wednesday), U.S. Central Command said.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney addresses the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Friday.
Since the Iraq war began in March, 326 U.S. troops have been killed, 209 in hostile attacks.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP said that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
President Bush on Thursday acknowledged the six-month milestone during a speech in New Hampshire.
"There's only one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam Hussein: Good riddance," Bush said in a speech to New Hampshire National Guard troops and reservists.
Baghdad fell to U.S. troops on April 9 and Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.
But the ongoing turmoil in the country was underscored by the shooting death of a Spanish diplomat in Baghdad. (Full story)
Crowd chants 'No, no America'
Friday, October 10, 2003 Posted: 3:56 PM EDT (1956 GMT)
Iraqi Shiites march after Friday prayers through the streets of Baghdad's Sadr City, site of Thursday's suicide bombing and later ambush on U.S. soldiers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Story Tools
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO
CNN's Jane Arraf on how many Iraqis feel six months after the war.
PLAY VIDEO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CNN's John King on the White House's new PR defense of its postwar strategy.
PLAY VIDEO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CNN's Jane Arraf on an apparent suicide car bombing in Baghdad.
PLAY VIDEO
RELATED
Wesley Clark takes heat on his Iraq position
Special Report: U.S. and coalition casualties
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• British remember war dead
• Cheney defends Iraq war
• Gallery: Police station bombing
• Spanish diplomat killed in Iraq
• Turkish Cabinet wants troops
SPECIAL REPORT
• Transition of Power
• Life after War
• CNN/Money: Rebuilding Iraq
• War in Iraq
• Special Report
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Iraq
Shiite Muslims
Military
George W. Bush
or Create your own
Manage alerts | What is this?
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Anti-U.S. feeling swirled among worshippers and demonstrators Friday in the sprawling Shiite slum where two U.S. soldiers were gunned down and eight Iraqi police officers were killed in a suicide attack a day earlier.
Such violence has so far been rare in the neighborhood, Sadr City, which was a base of anti-Saddam Hussein sentiment.
But the depressed district now may become a center of resistance to the U.S. occupation, and a powerful imam with a huge power base there, Muqtada al-Sadr, has taken an anti-American stand.
On Friday, the Muslim holy day, thousands of Shiites turned out for a funeral for a person who apparently died during an ambush on U.S. troops.
Soldiers were on routine patrol in Sadr City when they were ambushed Thursday night.
Two soldiers from the 1st Armored Division were killed and four were wounded when assailants opened fire with small arms and "unknown heavier weapons," according to a coalition official.
Witnesses and a cleric said two Iraqis died and two others were wounded.
Hours earlier, a suicide bombing killed eight Iraqi police officers in an attack that was the first of its kind in Sadr City. (Full story)
In Friday's street protests, Shiites ritually flagellated themselves, carrying pictures of al-Sadr and chanting, "There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God."
Hundreds of the mourners were carrying weapons.
As many as 6,000 worshippers gathered in front of the Sadr City municipal offices near the ambush site for Friday prayers and a sermon was delivered by an al-Sadr aide, Sheikh Abdel-Hadi al-Daraji.
"America claims to be the founder of freedom and democracy. That is wrong. Instead, it is nothing but a terrorist organization that leads the world through its terrorism and its reckless arrogance," the cleric said.
"It is forbidden for the American forces to enter Sadr City, especially for the next few days because the sons of Sadr City reject their presence."
The crowds chanted "No, No America!" There were armed guards protecting the clerics and the worshippers, many incensed about the American military presence and the Thursday night incident.
One military official disputed reports that the U.S. troops were embarking on a raid.
"This was a routine patrol that was lured into a specific area with the idea of humanitarian assistance and then ambushed. And from our reports, it was a deliberate and planned ambush. This was not a hasty act," said Lt. Col. George Krivo, Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman.
Soldiers were attacked by small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices.
Krivo said there is no proof of any Iraqis killed during the ambush.
An Army quick reaction force went to the scene and helped remove the patrol.
Also Thursday -- which marked six months since U.S. troops rolled into Baghdad -- a rocket-propelled grenade attack killed a 4th Infantry Division soldier traveling in a convoy near Ba'qubah, north of Baghdad, around 2 a.m. local time (6 p.m. EDT Wednesday), U.S. Central Command said.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney addresses the Heritage Foundation in Washington on Friday.
Since the Iraq war began in March, 326 U.S. troops have been killed, 209 in hostile attacks.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP said that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
President Bush on Thursday acknowledged the six-month milestone during a speech in New Hampshire.
"There's only one decent and humane reaction to the fall of Saddam Hussein: Good riddance," Bush said in a speech to New Hampshire National Guard troops and reservists.
Baghdad fell to U.S. troops on April 9 and Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.
But the ongoing turmoil in the country was underscored by the shooting death of a Spanish diplomat in Baghdad. (Full story)