Thousands of Shiites Gathering in Baghdad
Iraq - Thousands of Shiites gathering in Baghdad for pro-Hezbollah demonstration
AFP via Babelfish translation | August 4, 2006
Thousands of Shiites prepare to ravel for Hezbollah in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - Several thousands of Iraqi Shiites started to gather Friday in Baghdad where a demonstration of support for the party Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah, in conflict with Israel, must take place after the prayer of midday, a journalist of AFP noted.
Several hundreds of bus and cars filled Shiites come from all the country have converged for Thursday with Sadr city, the district Shiite disinherited of the North-East of Baghdad.
Holding up Iraqi flags and of Hezbollah, the young militants Shiites, of which some had covered a white shroud to post their determination to die as a martyr, answered the call of Moqtada Sadr, Iraqi radical the Shiite chief.
Militiamans vêtus of black excavated all the demonstrators, of fear of an attack, while the Iraqi police force and the army remained with the variation.
"We are here to testify to our support for Hassan Nasrallah (chief of Hezbollah, note) and for the people of Lebanon. It is necessary to put a term at the Israeli attacks, even if it is at the price of our life ", ensured Mahmoud Fadahawi.
"Our slogans denounce America, which does not do anything to improve the situation and lets the Israelis kill the inhabitants of Lebanon", this 40 year old Shiite come from the west of Baghdad added.
Ali Diniwayi is him come from Kout, to 175 km in the south of Baghdad.
"We came in a convoy from 10 buses, to take part in this peaceful gathering and to associate to us the victorious war that today Hassan Nasrallah carries out to Lebanon", it explained.
The American army reinforced the safety measures around Sadr city, a bastion of Moqtada Sadr and its militia, the army of Mehdi.
The tension is all the more high as a short armed confrontation opposed Thursday afternoon of the militants of Moqtada Sadr and the American soldiers.
"the Americans shot at not armed demonstrators who went from Najaf to Baghdad to take part in the gathering in support for Hezbollah, making a death and 16 wounded", Sahib Al-Ameri, general manager of the Foundation for the martyrs of God ensured, near to Moqtada Sadr.
According to the American army, the soldiers opened fire after a tower of guet was the target of shootings coming from a van, on the road between Najaf, the Holy City Shiite, and Baghdad, close to Mahmoudiyah, to 30 km in the south of the Iraqi capital.
"They shot at our soldiers, we made only counteract in self-defence", indicated the commander Steve Stover, spokesman of multinational division in Baghdad, specifying that "two terrorists" had been killed.
The militia of Moqtada Sadr had in particular faced the American soldiers in 2004 with Najaf and Sadr city.
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