Thousands of Iraqis yesterday rallied at two central Baghdad intersections after a prominent cleric called for a “million strong” protest against the US military presence, following the US killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia chief.
The march called by Moqtada al-Sadr aims to pressure Washington to pull out its troops, but many anti-government protesters fear it could overshadow their separate, months-long demonstrations that have challenged Iran-backed Shiite groups’ grip on power.
Al-Sadr opposes all foreign interference in Iraq, but has recently aligned himself more closely with Iran, whose allies have dominated state institutions since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Photo: Reuters
Throngs of marchers started gathering early yesterday at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad and near around the city’s main university, witnesses said.
Marchers avoided Tahrir Square, symbol of mass protests against Iraq’ ruling elites.
“We want them all out — America, Israel, and the corrupt politicians in government,” said Raed Abu Zahra, a health ministry worker from southern city of Samawa, who arrived by bus at night and stayed in Sadr City, a sprawling district of Baghdad controlled by the cleric’s followers.
“We support the protests in Tahrir as well, but understand why Sadr held this protest here so it doesn’t take attention from theirs,” he added.
Men and women marched waving the red, white and black national colors, and chanted slogans against the US, which leads a military coalition against the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
Some were wearing symbolic white robes indicating they are willing to die for their country, while others sat looking out over the square from half-finished buildings, holding signs reading “No, no, America, no, no, Israel, no, no, colonialists.”
Marchers were protected by al-Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam brigades and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shiite militias, witnesses said.
Main roads in Baghdad were barricaded by security forces and the city’s Green Zone, which houses foreign missions, was blocked off with concrete barriers.
Outside the US embassy, a sign reads “Warning. Do not cross this barrier, we will use pre-emptive measures against any attempt to cross.”
The US killing of Iranian military mastermind General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad this month has raised the specter of more civil strife in a country torn by years of sectarian conflict.
Long opposed to the US troop presence, al-Sadr seized on the public anger over the drone strike to call “a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations.”
The cleric controls parliament’s largest bloc and his followers hold top ministerial positions. The 46-year-old is a notoriously fickle politician, known for switching alliances quickly.
Harith Hasan of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut said al-Sadr was trying to sustain his “multiple identities” by backing various protests.
“On the one hand, [he seeks to] position himself as the leader of a reform movement, as a populist, as anti-establishment,” Hasan told Agence France-Presse. “On the other hand, he also wants to sustain his image as the leader of the resistance to the ‘American occupation,’” partly to win favor with Iran.”
“This protest will show [al-]Sadr is still the one able to mobilize large groups of people in the streets — but it’s also possible he wants other groups to respond by giving him more space to choose the prime minister,” Hasan said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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