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US FEROCIOUSLY ATTACKING AS IRAQ
EXPLODES
ALLAWI REGIME SHAKING AYATOLLAH SISTANI QUESTIONED KILLING, DESTRUCTION, CHAOS THROUGHOUT IRAQ MiddleEast.Org - MID-EAST REALITIES - Washington - 26 August 2004: Chaos, confusion, death, and destruction -- that's the description of American occupied Iraq as the country virtually rebels and explodes. Even as Ayatollah al-Sistani heads back to Najaf protected by British occupation troops American occupation troops are ferociously attacking Najaf, Fallujah, Sadr City as never before and American armed and paid Iraqi mercenary troops are massacreing their own. Some sixteen peaceful protestors were killed, more than a hundred injured, yesterday when what is now called the 'Iraqi police' opened fire apparently to frighten and intimidate the growing throngs wanting to heed the call of Sistani and march to Najaf. More killing of Iraqi protestors by 'Iraqi police' is beginning to be reported this morning. Journalists are having a devil of a time as well, threatened more by the Americans and their regime than by anyone else it appears (just read the last article below). The Americans had Aljazeera, the most popular Arab satellite TV channel, thrown out of Iraq just before they began their most ferocious military operations. And the U.S. installed, protected, and funded Allawi regime has followed through with continual threats against journalists and unprecedented efforts to prevent video pictures of what the occupation troops are doing from reaching the world. All this is being orchestrated behind-the-scenes from 'fortress America' - the largest U.S. Embassay and CIA station in the world in the Baghdad 'Green Zone' now commanded by Ambassador John Negroponte. And the top U.S. military commanders are now said to be in Najaf as Sistani arrives; though in the past he has always refused to meet with any American occupation officials. But at this point no one seems to know just who is really in charge and what is really going on. Sistani's own authority and credibility have already been called into question by his well-timed decision to leave Iraq and go to London for medical treatment. Many now believe this was coordinated with the Americans and the Baghdad regime; and many others who aren't so sure wonder why in the world he went to London when he could have gone to nearby Iran or Lebanon or had doctors in fact come to him if in fact there was some emergency. And as these questions remain hanging this morning's headline on Aljazeera is "U.S. attacks Najaf as UK escorts al-Sistani".
The compound of the mosque in Kufa was packed with people about to go to Najaf where Iraq's top Shia cleric is headed to try to end the conflict there. Later, gunmen opened fired on marchers going from Kufa to Najaf, reportedly killing at least three. It is not known who is behind either of the attacks. Accompanied by thousands of his supporters, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is going to Najaf to try to end the stand-off involving Shia fighters led by a radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr. The rebels have been battling US-led forces for three weeks.
The ayatollah, who returned to Iraq on Wednesday after medical treatment in the UK, is expected to announce an initiative to resolve the crisis as Moqtada Sadr's men are holed up in the compound of the Imam Ali mosque, Shia Islam's holiest shrine. "I have come for the sake of Najaf and I will stay in Najaf until the crisis ends," Ayatollah Sistani said on Wednesday. An aide travelling with the ayatollah told Reuters news agency he was continuing to make for Najaf despite the trouble in Kufa. Ayatollah Sistani was instrumental in brokering an earlier ceasefire between Mr Sadr's fighters and US-led forces in the city. Angry crowds Hussam al-Husseini, an aide to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told the Associated Press news agency that one mortar shell hit the mosque itself in Kufa, and two others landed near the gates of the compound.
He said another mosque in the city had also been hit by mortar rounds. It is not clear who might have been responsible for the attack. US-led forces said they have not carried out any operations in Kufa for 24 hours, CNN television reported. TV pictures showed dozens of wounded men lying on the ground amid pools of blood or being ferried to Kufa's hospital. Crowds of angry people are reported to have built up around the gates of the hospital where casualties were taken.
"This is a criminal act. We just wanted to launch a peaceful demonstration," Hani Hashem said. In the other incident, witnesses said a crowd of 2,000-3,000 were forced back from a road-block on the main route to Najaf by heavy gunfire over their heads. Peace plan The ayatollah set out from the southern city of Basra early on Thursday to make the journey of 400km (250 miles) to Najaf in a convoy of cars and buses packed with Shia Muslim faithful. The crowds heading to Najaf include Shia who seek the peaceful solution preferred by their spiritual leader Ayatollah Sistani, as well as supporters of Moqtada Sadr.
The governor of Najaf declared a 24-hour ceasefire from when the ayatollah arrives to allow time for a deal with the militants to be reached. Aides said the ayatollah's proposals included weapons-free zones in both Najaf and Kufa - a stronghold of Moqtada Sadr - and the replacement of foreign troops by Iraqi police. Helicopters hovered above the stream of vehicles headed to Najaf, while armed guards in sports utility vehicles protected the ayatollah. Najaf
under intense shelling barrage
As US AC-130s and artillery units continued their sixth day of bombing al-Mahdi Army positions in Najaf, Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani has issued a call for Iraqis to march to the city to "save it from destruction".
Five explosions were heard early on Thursday morning as
artillery fire rained down on al-Mahdi Army holdouts in Najaf. The artillery fire was followed by what residents said was a
warplane attack. A few hours earlier, two deafening explosions sounded across
Najaf late on Wednesday evening, as Thick
black smoke spewed out into the night sky not far from the revered Imam
Ali mausoleum, where supporters of cleric and militia leader Muqtada
al-Sadr have been trapped by Witnesses said they saw planes drop two bombs
at around 23:15 (19:15 GMT). An al-Sadr spokesman based in Nasiriya said that all
al-Mahdi Army operations in southern Aws al-Khafaji is also
reported to have told AFP that the militia have lost control of major
sections of Najaf. An Iraqi security
source also said Iraqi police had arrested al-Sadr aide Ali al-Sumaisim
and four office staff near the Thawrat-al-Ishrin
square in Najaf. Al-Sistani's march Iranian-born al-Sistani arrived in the southern city of He is hoping to end the fighting between US forces and followers of his political foe, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, by breaking up the two sides. "The Americans have
been surrounding the shrine for days and Sadr's followers stayed
barricaded and determined. This march is the only way for both
sides to save face," said independent Shia cleric Muhammad Bahr al-Uloum.
"The march will make
history. It could be decisive in keeping who acknowledges Sistani, 73, as the highest living authority in Shia Islam.
Iranian-born Sistani,
who had not left Najaf for years, departed the
city two weeks ago to undergo surgery in American use of brute force, although we understand that as a traditional religious elder he prefers subtlety," said Ali al-Lami, a Shia politician.
Demonstrators killed
Earlier on Wednesday, Aljazeera reported that 16 men were killed and 102 others wounded during a peaceful demonstration heading towards Najaf.
Video footage from Associated Press Television News showed demonstrators wounded during a few minutes of heavy gunfire.
The marchers chanted slogans in support of al-Sadr and carried pictures of the cleric as well as pictures of al-Sistani. <> Witnesses said the gunfire appeared to come from an Iraqi National Guard post, which sat behind concrete blast walls along the demonstration route. Wednesday 25 August 2004 7:55 PM GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/42D1E168-48B9-401C-B00F-4F6933CA44CE.htm
Iraqi police seize journalists in
Najaf
(AFP
- 25 August) Iraqi
policemen rounded up dozens of journalists at gunpoint in a Najaf hotel
and took them to police headquarters before later releasing them.
Firing their guns in the air,
the dozen odd policemen, some masked, stormed
into the rooms of journalists in the An AFP correspondent, who was also forced into
a van, said the police
pushed and pulled many reporters at gunpoint. After a two-minute drive from the hotel, where
journalists from across
the world are based while covering the battle between al-Mahdi Army militiamen and US occupation forces city, the reporters were taken to the office of the police chief. "You
people are not under arrest," Najaf police chief Ghalib al-Jezari told them. "You are brought here because I want to tell
you that you never publish
the truth. I speak the truth, but you never broadcast what we are." The reporters, packed into the office, with
some sitting on the floor
in front of the police chief, protested at their detention. "You have kidnapped us
at gunpoint," said one reporter. The police chief
complained that reporters have been misreporting
the proposed visit to Najaf by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the revered Iraqi Shiite Muslim leader. Arab media detained Iraqi police also arrested five members of a
Dubai-based television news crew after they reported that US planes had
fired missiles within metres of the Imam Ali mausoleum. An Al-Arabiya satellite news bulletin on
Wednesday
evening said that although no official reason had been given, their
detention came within minutes of a 17:00 GMT broadcast with live
coverage of seriously fierce fighting in Najaf. Damage to the Imam Ali complex, already the
scene of
major resistance to US occupation forces, would almost certainly
exacerbate the conflict. Iraqi security officials arrested the TV crew
at
their hotel in Najaf, taking five members into custody - including Iraq
correspondent Diyar al-Omari. Iran expects release The arrests came as Iran's IRNA new agency
announced
it hopes to see two or three of its journalists released after their
detention in Iraq on 9 August. A source close to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi
was quoted as saying two of the three IRNA journalists would be
released, but did not say which ones.
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Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2004/8/1081.htm |