Sunday, May 11, 2003
Shiite Leader Demands U.S. Leave Iraq
From: spliffslips
Military Care Packages War Blog Updates
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Shiite Leader Demands U.S. Leave Iraq
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By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
May 11, 2003, 6:26 PM EDT
NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- The leader of Iraq's largest Shiite Muslim group denounced the U.S.-led occupation forces Sunday and demanded they pull out and allow the Iraqi people to establish their own government.
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, who returned to his homeland Saturday after spending more than two decades in exile in neighboring Iran, made the call in this predominantly Shiite city despite the presence of a squad of U.S. Marines who were protecting him.
"We don't fear these (U.S. and British) forces. This nation wants to preserve its independence and the coalition forces must leave this country," al-Hakim said. As he spoke, about 4,000 supporters chanted "Yes to Hakim" and "Hakim is our leader."
A U.S. officer said the Marines were there to protect al-Hakim, leader of the Iran-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq.
Last month, two prominent Shiite clerics were assassinated in the nearby city of Najaf. Their killings were widely perceived as part of an internal dispute among rival Shiite factions.
While al-Hakim spoke, some children offered bread or flowers to the Marines.
"We wave to the Americans," said Hasan Jaberi, a teenager. "But in Arabic, we tell them slaps will come if you don't leave."
In his speech, al-Hakim vowed to defend the rights of all Iraqis and insisted he would not seek a Shiite government.
"Some say Shiites want to seize the power in Iraq but this is not true, although we are the majority. But it was all Iraqis who sacrificed their blood. We don't want a tribal government," he said.
The Shiite sect of Islam, a minority in the Islamic world, represents a 60 percent majority in Iraq. It was persecuted and oppressed under Saddam's Sunni Muslim-dominated regime.
Immediately after his return on Saturday, Hakim told cheering supporters that Iraq should have an Islamic government. In the same speech, however, he condemned religious extremism and rejected any foreign-installed government.
On Sunday, he stressed that U.S. authorities in Iraq were opposed to an Islamic government.
"The forces here will not bring Islam," he said.
Al-Hakim told the Arabic language television station Al-Jazeera on Sunday that he will not personally attend U.S.-sponsored meetings to establish a transitional administration, although he indicated representatives of his Supreme Council would.
"We believe in specialization," he said. "I specialize in religious affairs." he said others in his movement dealt with governmental issues and "therefore I don't think i will attend any of these meetings, whether they are supervised by Iraqis or by others."
Washington opposes an Iranian-style theocracy taking control in Iraq, and particularly fears the possibility that a democratic vote might produce a conservative, Islamic-oriented government with close ties to Iran's anti-American Shiite clerics.
Last month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that a government dominated by hardline religious clerics "isn't going to happen."
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-shiite-cleric,0,674205.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
|
Military Care Packages War Blog Updates
--------------------
Shiite Leader Demands U.S. Leave Iraq
--------------------
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
May 11, 2003, 6:26 PM EDT
NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- The leader of Iraq's largest Shiite Muslim group denounced the U.S.-led occupation forces Sunday and demanded they pull out and allow the Iraqi people to establish their own government.
Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, who returned to his homeland Saturday after spending more than two decades in exile in neighboring Iran, made the call in this predominantly Shiite city despite the presence of a squad of U.S. Marines who were protecting him.
"We don't fear these (U.S. and British) forces. This nation wants to preserve its independence and the coalition forces must leave this country," al-Hakim said. As he spoke, about 4,000 supporters chanted "Yes to Hakim" and "Hakim is our leader."
A U.S. officer said the Marines were there to protect al-Hakim, leader of the Iran-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq.
Last month, two prominent Shiite clerics were assassinated in the nearby city of Najaf. Their killings were widely perceived as part of an internal dispute among rival Shiite factions.
While al-Hakim spoke, some children offered bread or flowers to the Marines.
"We wave to the Americans," said Hasan Jaberi, a teenager. "But in Arabic, we tell them slaps will come if you don't leave."
In his speech, al-Hakim vowed to defend the rights of all Iraqis and insisted he would not seek a Shiite government.
"Some say Shiites want to seize the power in Iraq but this is not true, although we are the majority. But it was all Iraqis who sacrificed their blood. We don't want a tribal government," he said.
The Shiite sect of Islam, a minority in the Islamic world, represents a 60 percent majority in Iraq. It was persecuted and oppressed under Saddam's Sunni Muslim-dominated regime.
Immediately after his return on Saturday, Hakim told cheering supporters that Iraq should have an Islamic government. In the same speech, however, he condemned religious extremism and rejected any foreign-installed government.
On Sunday, he stressed that U.S. authorities in Iraq were opposed to an Islamic government.
"The forces here will not bring Islam," he said.
Al-Hakim told the Arabic language television station Al-Jazeera on Sunday that he will not personally attend U.S.-sponsored meetings to establish a transitional administration, although he indicated representatives of his Supreme Council would.
"We believe in specialization," he said. "I specialize in religious affairs." he said others in his movement dealt with governmental issues and "therefore I don't think i will attend any of these meetings, whether they are supervised by Iraqis or by others."
Washington opposes an Iranian-style theocracy taking control in Iraq, and particularly fears the possibility that a democratic vote might produce a conservative, Islamic-oriented government with close ties to Iran's anti-American Shiite clerics.
Last month, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that a government dominated by hardline religious clerics "isn't going to happen."
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
--------------------
This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-shiite-cleric,0,674205.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
