Blackberry
2nd September 2003, 10:50
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/31/...ain570944.shtml (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/31/iraq/main570944.shtml) (Aug. 30, 2003)
The news of this protest is further down the page. It is the best news on the protest I could find. Many other news sources are trying to twist the real reason of the protest. They are saying that the protestors wanted the imperialist occupiers to give better security. What they really wanted was for security to be handed over back to the Iraqis, following the death of Shiite Muslim cleric Al-Hakim.
Tens of thousands of worshippers filled the shrine in Najaf and the surrounding streets for a funeral service for the victims. There was to be a service for al-Hakim in Baghdad early Sunday with the body then taken to Karbala, near Najaf. It was to be buried in Najaf on Tuesday.
In Najaf, the main road leading to the shrine was open only to pedestrians, and residents were seen carrying coffins on the tops of cars and backs of trucks for the funeral service.
CBS News Reporter Lisa Barron says the Najaf demonstration turned into an angry anti-American protest, with al Hakim's nephew telling the crowd the U.S.-led coalition isn't welcome in Iraq and should hand over security to Iraqis. He said, "We will keep on working until we raise the flag of Islam on the lands of the Mesopotamia." Barron says the demonstrators yelled, "Death to America."
In Baghdad, about 3,000 Shiites protested peacefully for about an hour at the gates of coalition headquarters, complaining that the coalition's failure to provide security led to al-Hakim's death. Barron, who is in Baghdad, said the crowd chanted anti-American and anti-Baath Party slogans, such as, "No to America, no to Saddam, yes to Islam."
The news of this protest is further down the page. It is the best news on the protest I could find. Many other news sources are trying to twist the real reason of the protest. They are saying that the protestors wanted the imperialist occupiers to give better security. What they really wanted was for security to be handed over back to the Iraqis, following the death of Shiite Muslim cleric Al-Hakim.
Tens of thousands of worshippers filled the shrine in Najaf and the surrounding streets for a funeral service for the victims. There was to be a service for al-Hakim in Baghdad early Sunday with the body then taken to Karbala, near Najaf. It was to be buried in Najaf on Tuesday.
In Najaf, the main road leading to the shrine was open only to pedestrians, and residents were seen carrying coffins on the tops of cars and backs of trucks for the funeral service.
CBS News Reporter Lisa Barron says the Najaf demonstration turned into an angry anti-American protest, with al Hakim's nephew telling the crowd the U.S.-led coalition isn't welcome in Iraq and should hand over security to Iraqis. He said, "We will keep on working until we raise the flag of Islam on the lands of the Mesopotamia." Barron says the demonstrators yelled, "Death to America."
In Baghdad, about 3,000 Shiites protested peacefully for about an hour at the gates of coalition headquarters, complaining that the coalition's failure to provide security led to al-Hakim's death. Barron, who is in Baghdad, said the crowd chanted anti-American and anti-Baath Party slogans, such as, "No to America, no to Saddam, yes to Islam."