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Eli
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Israel
Jul 2000
time: 07:35
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http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?...B153BA6CE0C206D
quote:
Coalition troops and Iraqi police fired on a crowd of Shi'ite protesters near the city of Najaf. Hospital officials said several people were killed and dozens injured.
Supporters of the radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been staging demonstrations for several days. But the protests turned violent when Spanish-led troops and Iraqi police opened fire near a coalition base in the town of Kufa.
Many are angry over the alleged detention of a top aide to the cleric, Mustafa al-Yacoubi. Spanish troops in charge of security around Najaf say they have not been involved in any such operation.
The protests began last week in response to the U.S. decision to close down a newspaper headed by al-Sadr, an outspoken cleric known for his harsh criticism of America. U.S. officials closed the newspaper's offices on March 28 because, they said, it was inciting violence against the coalition.
Shi'ite demonstrators shouting anti-American slogans also took to the streets in Baghdad, gathering at the entrance to coalition headquarters and in the square where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled last year.
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Discuss.
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Tripledoc
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The irony would be if it was some other members of the coalition who had detained the top aide, but failed to inform the rest.
But why did the demonstrators specifically go to the Spanish compund, and just now? This is not a co-incidence.
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Thorgal
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Tarifa, Cádiz.
Jan 2002
time: 05:35
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Protestors thought that the shiite leader Mohamed Al Yacub was prisoner in the spanish compound. It seems there are only a soldier of El Salvador and an officer from USA killed. 14 soldiers wonded none of them spanish.
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Sava
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GO GO GO!
Mar 2001
time: 23:35
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quote:
Violent Disturbances Wrack Iraq From Baghdad to Southern Cities
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
AGHDAD, April 4 — Iraq was wracked today by its most violent civil disturbances since the occupation started, with a coordinated Shiite uprising spreading across the country, from the slums of Baghdad to several cities in the south.
By day's end, witnesses said Shiite militiamen controlled the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, with armed men loyal to a radical cleric occupying the town's police stations and checkpoints. More than eight people were killed by Spanish forces in a similar uprising in the neighboring town of Najaf.
In Baghdad, American tanks battled militiamen loyal to Moqtada Al Sadr, the radical cleric who has denounced the occupation and has an army of thousands of young followers.
At nightfall today, the Sadr City neighborhood shook with explosions and tank and machine gun fire. Black smoke choked the sky. The streets were lined with armed militiamen, dressed in all black. American tanks surrounded the area. Attack helicopters thundered overhead.
"The occupation is over!" people on the streets yelled. "We are now controlled by Sadr. The Americans should stay out."
Witnesses said Mr. Sadr's militiamen had tried to take over three police stations in Sadr City, a poor, mostly Shiite neighborhood north of central Baghdad named after Mr. Sadr's father.
Doctors at Baghdad hospitals reported that several people were wounded in the fighting but there were no details on casualties.
Franco Pagetti, an Italian photographer, said he was caught in the crossfire and witnessed several American tanks firing into the streets.
"The tanks were shooting into the pavement, not at the height of the people," Mr. Pagetti said. "It looked like they were trying to clear the streets."
Mr. Pagetti also said he had watched a group of militiamen launch three rocket propelled grenades at American Humvees but the militiamen had missed each time.
"The situation is getting worse," Mr. Pagetti said. "I saw injured people getting put in cars. The people said they had been wounded by American helicopters."
As the fighting raged, Mr. Sadr called on his followers to "terrorize" the enemy as demonstrations were no longer any use. Last week, his weekly newspaper, Hawza, was shut down by American authorities after it had been accused of inciting violence. The closure began a week of protests that grew bigger and more unruly at each turn.
"There is no use for demonstrations, as your enemy loves to terrify and suppress opinions, and despises peoples," Mr. Sadr said in a statement distributed by his office in Kufa today.
"I ask you not to resort to demonstrations because they have become a losing card and we should seek other ways," he told his followers. "Terrorize your enemy, as we cannot remain silent over its violations."
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apparantly this is larger, coordinated effort http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/i...ND-IRAQ.html?hp
oh but wait, everything is fine in Iraq... 
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Tripledoc
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The paper, according to BBC I think, did not directly incite to violence, but the wording used violent imagery to illustrate certain points and so on.
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Tripledoc
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But is it not a bit naive to say that this war was about freedom and democracy, especially since the strongest supporters, here at least, but I suspect generally as well, seem to have positively fascist views (Giancarlo and Park Avenue)
The conservatives and liberals seem to be wavering in their support.
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Giancarlo
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Los Angeles
Apr 2000
time: 02:35
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The casualty reports released by the media is incorrect.
quote:
Gunmen Attack Spanish, Salvadoran Troops in Najaf
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2004 – Spanish and Salvadoran troops in Najaf came under attack from gunmen hiding in a crowd of protesters, coalition officials said in Baghdad today.
The coalition troops took some casualties, but the numbers are nowhere near initial news reports of four dead and 24 wounded, said a senior military official speaking on background.
"A large number of men, many dressed in black, attacked a coalition base with small- arms fire," senior military officials said.
Coalition forces – including U.S. Air Force aircraft and U.S. Army gunships – responded to the attacks. The situation in Najaf is now stabilized, officials said.
Officials said the attacks began at about 11:45 a.m. Iraq time, when a vehicle leaving an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps base came under small-arms fire. From about noon to 2:30 p.m., the coalition base came under attack from "a large number of personnel."
Coalition authorities said reports that hundreds of civilian casualties resulted from the attacks were incorrect. "Any notion that the Spanish fired on the protesters in the middle of a peaceful demonstration would not be consistent with what we saw on the ground," a senior military official said. Authorities indicated they would have more information as officials in Najaf gather the facts.
The attacks did come as followers of anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al- Sadr marched on the compound reportedly in protest of a Sadr aide detention.
A senior coalition official said the coalition had detained the aide, Mustapha Yacoubi, for the April 2003 murder of Shiite Ayatollah Sayed al Khoei – one of Iraq's leading advocates for human rights. Coalition forces turned the accused man over to Iraqi officials. Yacoubi will be tried by an Iraqi court.
Earlier in the day, Coalition Administrator Paul Bremer said that Iraqis have gained their freedoms and have exercised their new rights appropriately all over the country.
"That is welcome," he said. "But those freedoms must be exercised peacefully. This morning a group of people in Najaf crossed the line and they have moved to violence. This will not be tolerated. This will not be tolerated by the coalition, this will not be tolerated by the Iraqi people, and this will not be tolerated by the Iraqi security forces."
Officials said they are not surprised by the variance in reports from Najaf. "It's an old military axiom that all first reports are wrong," said an official. "We will have better information in the next few hours and we'll share that with you." |
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Tripledoc
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Why did the Spanish authorites on the ground deny that the aide was being held. Did the Americans fail to inform the Spanish that they had him?
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04-04-2004 17:50
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