BAGHDAD, 10 April 2007 — Tens of thousands draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched peacefully through the streets of two Shiite holy cities yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall. Demonstrators were flanked by two cordons of police as they called for US forces to leave.
Security was tight across Iraq, with a 24-hour ban on all vehicles in Baghdad starting from 5 a.m. yesterday. The government quickly reinstated the day as a holiday, rescinding its weekend order that had decreed that April 9 no longer would be a day off.
The Najaf rally was ordered by Moqtada Sadr, the powerful Shiite cleric who a day earlier issued a statement ordering his militiamen to redouble their battle to oust American forces, and argued that Iraq’s army and police should join him in defeating “your archenemy.”
Demonstrators marched from Kufa to neighboring Najaf, 160 kilometers south of Baghdad. Those marching were overwhelmingly Shiite but Sunnis, who are believed to make up the heart of Iraq’s insurgency, have also called for an American withdrawal.
Some at the rally waved small Iraqi flags; others hoisted up a giant flag 10 meters long. Leaflets fluttered through the breeze reading: “Yes, Yes to Iraq” and “Yes, Yes to Moqtada. Occupiers should leave Iraq.”
“The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said lawmaker Nassar Al-Robaie, head of Sadr’s bloc in Parliament, as he marched. “After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded.”
A senior official in Sadr’s organization in Najaf, Salah Al-Obaydi, called the rally a “call for liberation.” “We’re hoping that by next year’s anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty.” Sadr did not attend the demonstration, and has not appeared in public for months.
