Thousands Denounce U.S. in Baghdad Shi'ite Protest
Wed Aug 13,12:52 PM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims poured into the streets of a Baghdad neighborhood Wednesday to denounce U.S. troops who they said had defiled a religious school by flying low in a helicopter, which struck its flag.
"No, no to America!" shouted protesters who flooded the streets of a sprawling suburb populated mainly by poor Shi'ites, who form a long-oppressed majority of Iraq's population.
Arab television aired film showing a U.S. helicopter flying low over a tower where a black flag was flying. Its wheel appeared to touch the religious banner.
A military spokesman said he knew of no incidents in the area.
A Shi'ite cleric in the neighborhood said U.S. troops had defiled a sacred place, and demanded they stay away.
"We request that no American soldier enter this city. The presence of American soldiers shakes security and causes terrorism. This is an aggression on the sacred Muslim places," Sheikh Qays told Reuters.
The area was known as Saddam City under Saddam Hussein, who maintained a tradition of oppressing the Shi'ite majority, but locals now call it Sadr City after a prominent late cleric.
Most leaders of Iraq's Shi'ites, who account for about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, have largely avoided confrontation with their country's occupiers, and some work with a U.S.-appointed council aimed at forming an Iraqi government.
Washington has made clear, however, that it disapproves of suggestions by some Shi'ite clerics that Iraq should follow the theocratic style of government adopted by Shi'ite Iran.
Shi'ites form an overwhelming majority in southern Iraq, where violent protests directed partly against British occupying forces disrupted the second city of Basra this week.
Wed Aug 13,12:52 PM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims poured into the streets of a Baghdad neighborhood Wednesday to denounce U.S. troops who they said had defiled a religious school by flying low in a helicopter, which struck its flag.
"No, no to America!" shouted protesters who flooded the streets of a sprawling suburb populated mainly by poor Shi'ites, who form a long-oppressed majority of Iraq's population.
Arab television aired film showing a U.S. helicopter flying low over a tower where a black flag was flying. Its wheel appeared to touch the religious banner.
A military spokesman said he knew of no incidents in the area.
A Shi'ite cleric in the neighborhood said U.S. troops had defiled a sacred place, and demanded they stay away.
"We request that no American soldier enter this city. The presence of American soldiers shakes security and causes terrorism. This is an aggression on the sacred Muslim places," Sheikh Qays told Reuters.
The area was known as Saddam City under Saddam Hussein, who maintained a tradition of oppressing the Shi'ite majority, but locals now call it Sadr City after a prominent late cleric.
Most leaders of Iraq's Shi'ites, who account for about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, have largely avoided confrontation with their country's occupiers, and some work with a U.S.-appointed council aimed at forming an Iraqi government.
Washington has made clear, however, that it disapproves of suggestions by some Shi'ite clerics that Iraq should follow the theocratic style of government adopted by Shi'ite Iran.
Shi'ites form an overwhelming majority in southern Iraq, where violent protests directed partly against British occupying forces disrupted the second city of Basra this week.
