Iraqis call on US to withdraw troops: Massive gathering in Karbala
KARBALA, April 22: Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims used the commemoration of the Karbala tragedy on Tuesday to flex their newly found political muscle in post-Saddam Iraq and to call for the withdrawal of US-led forces.
In rituals banned under Saddam’s 24 years of iron rule, the worshippers beat their heads and their chests and also flogged their backs with chains, while some entered a golden-domed shrine on all fours in a sign of humility.
The crowd congregated to Karbala to take part in rituals marking the 40th day of the tragedy, which took place in 680AD.
A crowd of 3,000 pilgrims shouted anti-US slogans amid growing discontent among Iraqis over US occupation of the country and the failure to restore basic services, but others thanked coalition forces for toppling Saddam.
Since the fall of President Saddam Hussein’s government, Shia leaders had been encouraging their followers to flock to Karbala, to voice their claim to better political representation and even leadership in a post-Saddam Iraq.
“O Hussein, you have won, Saddam the despicable is gone,” chanted the crowd soaked in sweat, marching under a blazing sun around Hazrat Imam Hussein’s golden mausoleum, comparing his persecution to their suffering during Saddam’s rule.
“Saddam, thug, where are you now?,” they shouted, filling the vast palm-lined esplanade next to the mausoleum with the black flags of mourning, the green flags of Islam and the red flags of revolt.
They carried portraits of two Shia leaders executed under President Saddam, Mohammed Baqer al-Sadr and Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr.
The crowd repeated slogans calling for unity between Shias and Sunnis, and among Shia political groups, represented by Iraq-based Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and Sayyid Ali Sistani, and by Iran-based Sayyid Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim.
“No Sunnis, no Shias, Islamic Unity,” they chanted.
Some also shouted slogans demanding a US withdrawal from Iraq.
“If America stays, it will suffer,” shouted a group of some 3,000 people as they passed in front of a hotel housing foreign reporters.
“No to colonialism, no to occupation,” “No to America, no to Saddam, no to tyranny, no to Israel,” they continued.
US forces along the route to Karbala were keeping a low profile for the gathering in hopes of avoiding demonstrations against the occupying forces.
The commemoration will continue on Wednesday, with Shia leaders expecting more than a million worshippers.
“It’s extraordinary, the people have taken the matter in their hands and it’s working,” said Haidar Humaidan, one of the volunteers channelling worshippers into Hazrat Imam Hussein’s mausoleum, topped with golden minarets and dome.—AFP
KARBALA, April 22: Hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims used the commemoration of the Karbala tragedy on Tuesday to flex their newly found political muscle in post-Saddam Iraq and to call for the withdrawal of US-led forces.
