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Thousands protest in Iraq to demand ouster of US troops
BAGHDAD, Jan 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Thousands of supporters of populist Iraqi
cleric Moqtada Sadr gathered in Baghdad on Friday for a rally to demand the
ouster of US troops, putting the protest-hit capital on edge.
The march rattled the separate, months-old protest movement that has
gripped the capital and Shiite-majority south since October, demanding a
government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.
Thousands of men, women and children massed under grey skies in the
Jadiriyah district of east Baghdad, chanting “Get out, get out, occupier!”
Some waved signs in Arabic and English reading “Death to America” and one
protester carried a cardboard cut-out of US President Donald Trump on the
gallows.
A representative of Sadr took to the stage at the protest site and read out
a statement by the influential Shiite cleric and populist politician.
It called for all foreign forces to leave Iraq, the cancellation of Iraq’s
security agreements with the United States, the closure of Iraqi airspace to
US military and surveillance aircraft and for Trump not to be “arrogant” when
addressing Iraqi officials.
“If all this is implemented, we will deal with it as a non-occupying
country — otherwise it will be considered a country hostile to Iraq,” the
statement said.
About two hours into the rally, protesters began peeling away from the
square but thousands lingered.
America’s military presence has been a hot-button issue in Iraq since a US
strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and a top Iraqi commander
outside Baghdad airport on January 3.
Around 5,200 US troops are in Iraq to lead a global coalition in fighting
the Islamic State group, but Iraq said the strike against Soleimani violated
that mandate.
Joint US-Iraqi operations were paused and outraged parliamentarians voted
for all foreign forces to leave.
Baghdad said it wanted to discuss a timeline for departure but US special
envoy for the anti-IS coalition, James Jeffrey, said Thursday there was no
“real engagement”.
– ‘Million-strong’ march –
Long opposed to the US troop presence, 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”.
Pro-Iran factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, usually
rivals of Sadr, agreed to join.
Qais al-Khazali, a Hashed commander once mentored by Sadr but now counted
among his top competitors, endorsed the rally.
“To Trump, the fool — the people’s message of rejection was clear: if you
don’t leave voluntarily, you’ll be ousted despite yourself,” he tweeted.
Iraq’s top Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, did not
explicitly back the rally in his weekly sermon on Friday but said Iraqis had
a right to protest “peacefully” in support of their country’s sovereignty.
The sermon, read by a representative, said parties were “very late” in
forming a new government to replace the cabinet of premier Adel Abdel Mahdi.
Abdel Mahdi has acted in a caretaker role since resigning in December, as
the anti-governments protests reached a fever pitch.
They were soon overshadowed by spiralling US-Iran tensions and protesters
had feared being totally eclipsed by Sadr’s rival rally.
There had been worries Sadr’s supporters might attack anti-regime protest
camps in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the presidential palace or the high-
security Green Zone, home to the US embassy and other foreign missions.
The move would not be without precedent for Sadr, who urged followers to
storm the Green Zone in 2016 in a challenge to the government over
undelivered reforms.
But there were no attempts on Friday morning to breach government zones or
head to Tahrir.
– Sadr hedges bets-
Sadr, 46, battled US forces at the head of his Mehdi Army militia after the
2003 US-led invasion but is a fickle politician, notorious for switching
alliances quickly.
He backed anti-government protests when they erupted in October — but also
controls parliament’s largest bloc and his followers hold top ministerial
positions.
His spokesman Saleh al-Obeidy hinted that while others unequivocally blamed
either the United States or Iran for Iraq’s instability, Sadr would choose a
middle path.
“We believe that both are behind this ruin, and Sadr is trying to balance
between the two,” he said.
Harith Hasan of the Carnegie Middle East Center said Sadr was trying to
sustain his “multiple identities”.
“On the one hand, (he seeks to) position himself as the leader of a reform
movement, as a populist, as anti-establishment,” Hasan told AFP.
“On the other hand, he also wants to sustain his image as the leader of the
resistance to the ‘American occupation’,” partly to win favour with Iran.
BSS/AFP/RY/1748 hrs