Thousands protest against US ambassador

Thousands of angry Shiites today rallied in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum against a spree of attacks that killed almost 200 people and to protest what they claim was American backing for Sunni Arabs politicians who have supported insurgent groups.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and moderate Sunni Arab leaders such as Adnan al-Dulaimi, but reserved most of their ire for hard-liners such as Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the Sunni Arab National Dialogue Front – who have complained of widespread fraud during the December 15 elections.

“We’re going to crush Saleh al-Mutlaq with our slippers,” they chanted as they marched, many armed with automatic weapons. “No, no to Zalmay. No, no to terrorism.”

Many of the more than 5,000 protesters were angry over what they considered was American support for some Sunnis who have in the past either supported, or at least not condemned insurgent groups.

Those Sunnis would help form a broad based government that would have the legitimacy to deflate the insurgency

The demonstration was organised after Friday prayers by Iraq’s main Shiite religious party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, which issued a veiled threat to Sunnis supporting the insurgency following twin suicide attacks yesterday that killed 119 people. Violence on Wednesday killed 53 people.

SCIRI, which said its patience was wearing thin, also condemned policies it said were imposed by the US-led coalition that hampered Iraqi security forces’ counterterrorism work. The Americans have recently increased their oversight of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated security forces.

The warning to Sunnis carried the possibility of using militias like the Badr Brigade, the former military wing of SCIRI, to exact vengeance against Sunni supporters of insurgents.

Hadi al-A’meri, the secretary general of the Badr Brigade, yesterday blamed the attacks on the US-led coalition. “Why are they putting obstacles in the way of the work of the Interior Ministry?” he asked.

Khalilzad has been calling on Iraq’s political and religious groups to form a broad-based coalition. Those include the three top vote tickets so farm which are the main Shiite United Iraqi Alliance – leading in results following the elections – al-Dulaimi’s main Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front, and a Kurdish coalition.

He also said last month that at least 120 abused prisoners were found in two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry – bolstering complaints by Sunni Arabs about abuse and torture by Interior Ministry security forces.

Shiite organisation have complained that the US embassy and the US-led coalition have placed restrictions on Iraqi defence and interior ministry forces - which are dominated buy Shiites.

“Yes, yes, to the Interior Ministry,” they shouted as the marched through the sprawling Shiite Sadr City slum. ”Yes, yes, to the defence ministry.”

“We don’t want the American ambassador to interfere in the affairs of the interior and defence ministries,” said one demonstrator Abdul-Mahdi Mhawi, 54, who was a traditional Arab robe and headdress.